Measuring Electric Fields From Surface Contaminants with Neutral Atoms

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dc.creatorObrecht, J. M.
dc.creatorWild, R. J.
dc.creatorCornell, E. A.
dc.date2007-05-14
dc.date2007-06-22
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T08:11:28Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T08:11:28Z
dc.descriptionIn this paper we demonstrate a technique of utilizing magnetically trapped neutral Rb-87 atoms to measure the magnitude and direction of stray electric fields emanating from surface contaminants. We apply an alternating external electric field that adds to (or subtracts from) the stray field in such a way as to resonantly drive the trapped atoms into a mechanical dipole oscillation. The growth rate of the oscillation's amplitude provides information about the magnitude and sign of the stray field gradient. Using this measurement technique, we are able to reconstruct the vector electric field produced by surface contaminants. In addition, we can accurately measure the electric fields generated from adsorbed atoms purposely placed onto the surface and account for their systematic effects, which can plague a precision surface-force measurement. We show that baking the substrate can reduce the electric fields emanating from adsorbate, and that the mechanism for reduction is likely surface diffusion, not desorption.
dc.description7 pages, 6 figures, published in Physical Review A
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/0705.2027
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/0705.2027
dc.identifierPhys. Rev. A 75, 062903 (2007)
dc.identifierdoi:10.1103/PhysRevA.75.062903
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/132129
dc.subjectSoft Condensed Matter
dc.subjectAtomic Physics
dc.titleMeasuring Electric Fields From Surface Contaminants with Neutral Atoms
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