Quantum vacuum forces dictate the interaction between individual atoms and
dielectric surfaces at nanoscale distances. For example, their large strengths
typically overwhelm externally applied forces, which makes it challenging to
controllably interface cold atoms with nearby nanophotonic systems. Here, we
show that it is possible to tailor the vacuum forces themselves to provide
strong trapping potentials. The trapping scheme takes advantage of the
attractive ground state potential and adiabatic dressing with an excited state
whose potential is engineered to be resonantly enhanced and repulsive. This
procedure yields a strong metastable trap, with the fraction of excited state
population scaling inversely with the quality factor of the resonance of the
dielectric structure. We analyze realistic limitations to the trap lifetime and
discuss possible applications that might emerge from the large trap depths and
nanoscale confinement.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure
