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Updated: Mar 17, 2026

Fabrication and Operation of a Nano-Optical Conveyor Belt
Published on: August 26, 2015
Quantum coherent tractor beam effect for atoms trapped near a nanowaveguide
Mark Sadgrove1, Sandro Wimberger2,3,4, Síle Nic Chormaic5
1Research Institute of Electrical Communications, Tohoku University, Katahira 2-1-1, Aoba-ku, Sendai-shi Japan.
Abstract:
We propose several schemes to realize a tractor beam effect for ultracold atoms in the vicinity of a few-mode nanowaveguide. Atoms trapped near the waveguide are transported in a direction opposite to the guided mode propagation direction. We analyse three specific examples for ultracold (23)Na atoms trapped near a specific nanowaveguide (i.e. an optical nanofibre): (i) a conveyor belt-type tractor beam effect, (ii) an accelerator tractor beam effect, and (iii) a quantum coherent tractor beam effect, all of which can effectively pull atoms along the nanofibre toward the light source. This technique provides a new tool for controlling the motion of particles near nanowaveguides with potential applications in the study of particle transport and binding as well as atom interferometry.
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