title: Resonant quenching of gas-phase Cs atoms induced by surface polaritons.
abstract: Near-field coupling between an excited atom and a surface-polariton mode can dramatically modify atomic branching ratios, because of surface-induced enhancement of a resonant decay channel. We show here that Cs(6D(3/2)) transfer towards Cs(7P(1/2)) (at lambda = 12.15 microm), negligible in free space, becomes efficient in the vicinity (< or =100 nm) of a sapphire window, due to a 12 microm resonance in the surface-polariton modes. The experiment relies on a selective reflection probing on the 7P(1/2)-10D(3/2) transition.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physique des Lasers, UMR 7538 du CNRS, Université Paris 13, F-93430 Villetaneuse, France.
authors.forename: Horacio
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Failache
authors.forename: Solomon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saltiel
authors.forename: Alexis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bloch
authors.forename: Martial
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ducloy