  Recently, there is growing interest in integrating alkali vapors with
nanoscale photonic structures, such as nano-waveguides, resonators and
nanoantennas. Nanoscale confinement of electromagnetic fields may introduce a
longitudinal electric field component, giving rise to circularly polarized
modes which are essential for diverse applications involving vapor and light,
such as chirality and non-reciprocity. Hereby, we have designed, fabricated and
characterized a miniaturized vapor cell that is integrated with optical
waveguides that are designed to generate a peculiar circular-like polarization.
Taking advantage of this phenomenon, we demonstrate a spectral shift in the
atomic absorption signatures at varying magnetic fields, and significant
isolation between forward and backward propagating waves in our atomic-cladded
waveguide. Our results pave the way for the utilization of chip-scale
integrated atomic devices in applications such as optical isolation and high
spatial resolution magnetometry.
