Self-induced Atomic Dipole Force

Parvendra Kumar, Amarendra K. Sarma

We report on a study of the optical dipole force in a ladderlike three-level atomic system induced by the trains of few-cycle-pulse laser fields. In the present study, we consider the nonresonant as well as the chirped pulse excitation of three-level atoms. The so-called optical dipole force is calculated by numerically solving the force equation and the density matrix equations self-consistently beyond the rotating wave approximations. By analyzing the center-of-mass motion, it is shown that under nonresonant excitation, the optical dipole force induced by the trains of few-cycle pulses may be used for focusing and defocusing of atoms in an atomic beam. Moreover, we have demonstrated that the chirped nanosecond pulses may be used for both coherent population transfer and focusing or defocusing of atoms simultaneously.

Juan Ortigoso, Mirta Rodríguez

Mark E. Saffman

The interaction of copropagating electromagnetic and matter waves is described with a set of coupled higher-order nonlinear Schr\"odinger equations. Optical self-focusing modulates an initially planar wave leading to the generation of dipole forces on the atoms. Atomic channeling due to the dipole forces leads, in the nonlinear regime, to filamentation of the atomic beam. Instability growth rates are calculated for atomic beams with both low and high phase space densities. In one transverse dimension an exact solution is found that describes a coupled optical and atomic soliton.

Harold J. Metcalf, P. van der Straten

Patrick R. Morrow, C. F. Bharucha, Kirk W. Madison +2 more

Adam T. Black, Hilton W. Chan, Vladan Vuletić

We report on a novel type of collective friction force acting on the center-of-mass motion of a self-organizing atomic sample inside a resonator. The force substantially exceeds the sum of the light forces acting on isolated atoms. We also observe spontaneous symmetry breaking between two equivalent, but spatially oset self-organization patterns in the standing wave resonator, as predicted by Domokos and Ritsch. We identify and experimentally verify the dependencies of the threshold for the self-organization process on incident-light and atomic sample properties. 1 Introduction: Single-atom versus collective light forces The well-known light-induced forces on atoms, such as the conservative dipole force, or the dissipative Doppler and polarization gradient forces 1, arise from the inter-action of the incident light with single atoms. Collective parameters characterizing the sample, such as the number of atoms, their spatial or momentum distribution