Eur. Phys. J. D 48, 417-421 (2008)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2008-00116-1

Atomic reflection off conductor walls as a tool in cold atom traps

¹ The National Centre for Mathematics and Physics, KACST, P.O. Box 6086, Riyadh, 11442, Saudi Arabia
² Department of Physics, P.O. Box 9003, KKU, Abha, 61314, Saudi Arabia
³ Department of Physics, University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK

Corresponding author: ^a mdalamri@kacst.edu.sa

Received: 3 November 2007
Revised: 9 February 2008
Published online: 13 June 2008

Abstract

We explain why a system of cold ⁸⁵Rb atoms at temperatures of the order T≈ 7.78× 10^-5 K and below, but not too low to lie in the quantum reflection regime, should be automatically repelled from the surface of a conductor without the need of an evanescent field, as in a typical atom mirror, to counteract the van der Waals attraction. The repulsive potential arises naturally outside the conductor and is effective at distances from the conductor surface of about 400 nm, intermediate between the van der Waals and the Casimir-Polder regions of variation. We propose that such a field-free reflection capability should be useful as a component in cold atom traps. It should be practically free of undesirable field fluctuations and would be operative at distances for which surface roughness, dissipative effects and other finite conductivity effects should be negligibly small.