We suggest using an evanescent wave around a thin fiber to trap atoms. We show that the gradient force of a red-detuned evanescent-wave field in the fundamental mode of a silica fiber can balance the centrifugal force when the fiber diameter is about two times smaller than the wavelength of the light and the component of the angular momentum of the atoms along the fiber axis is in an appropriate range. As an example, the system should be realizable for cesium atoms at a temperature of less than $0.29\mathrm{mK}$ using a silica fiber with a radius of $0.2\mu \mathrm{m}$ and a $1.3\text{−}\mu \mathrm{m}$-wavelength light with a power of about $27\mathrm{mW}$.

• Received 27 February 2004

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.70.011401