Sub-micrometric vapor cell : a new tool for spectroscopy and atom-surface interaction

The paper presents the prospects offered by this new tool, the extremely thin vapor cells (ETC), for laser spectroscopy and studies of the atom-surface interaction. Transmission in an ETC is presently a tool for the wings spectroscopy of the doublet Cs (6P/sub 3/2//spl rarr/6D), in an attempt to study, at a very short distance from the surface (/spl sim/5 nm), possible level crossing effects between the sapphire-repelled Cs(6D/sub 5/2/) and the sapphire-attracted Cs(6D/sub 5/2/).A general breakthrough promised by the spectroscopic study of atom-surface interaction in an ETC is the fact that it permits to study cavity-QED effects with a 2-wall cavity with atom dipole fluuctuations undergoing multipl reflections.