Nanofibers are a versatile platform for applied and fundamental studies. I will present our work starting with the production and characterization of the fibers. Then I will show that Rayleigh scattering from modes on the nanofiber gives information about the diameter with sub-micron resolution. We are using nanofibers for quantum optics and quantum information studies. We use the evanescent fields around an optical nanofiber (500 nm diameter) with 99.95% transmission to form an atom trap suitable for operation in cryogenic environments. We are developing methods to measure: the temperature of Rb atoms around the fiber, and the coupling of the Rb atoms into the mode of the fiber. Future plans include the study of the dynamics of a one dimensional array of atoms under different interaction conditions.

Work done in collaboration with J. A. Groover, P. A. Solano, S. L Rolston, F. K. Fatemi and G. Beadie. This work is supported by NSF though the PFC@JQI, the Atomtronics MURI, ONR, and DARPA.