Atomic Response in the Near-Field of Nanostructured Plasmonic Metamaterial.

We report on reflection spectra of cesium atoms in close vicinity of a nanostructured metallic meta-surface. We show that the hyperfine sub-Doppler spectrum of the 6(2)S1/2-6(2)P3/2 resonance transition at 852 nm is strongly affected by the coupling to the plasmonic resonance of the nanostructure. Fine tuning of dispersion and positions of the atomic lines in the near-field of plasmonic metamaterials could have uses and implications for atom-based metrology, sensing, and the development of atom-on-a-chip devices.