Generation of cold Rydberg atoms at submicron distances from an optical nanofiber

The authors demonstrate two-photon excitation of ground state cold rubidium atoms to Rydberg states mediated by an optical nanofiber. They exploit the decay of atoms in the atom cloud to study the Rydberg excitation. The excited Rydberg atoms are estimated to be about 100 nm from the dielectric nanofiber's surface