Interaction between atoms in the field of a strong light wave

Н. І. Жукова, A. P. Kazantsev, É. F. Kazantsev +1 more

S. J. van Enk

We describe the resonant interaction of an atom with a strongly focused light beam by expanding the field in multipole waves. For a classical field, or when the field is described by a coherent state, we find that both intensity pattern and photon statistics of the scattered light are fully determined by a small set of parameters. One crucial parameter is the overlap of the field with the appropriate dipole wave corresponding to the relevant dipole transition in the atom. We calculate this overlap for a particular set of strongly focused longitudinally polarized light beams, whose spot size is only $0.1{\ensuremath{\lambda}}^{2}$, as discussed by S. Quabis et al. [Appl. Phys. B 72, 109 (2001)].

Qiming Li

The interaction of a beam of two level atoms with a standing wave laser field has been the subject of extensive investigation in recent times. A standing wave perpendicular to an atomic beam allows the manipulation of the transverse velocity distribution. The interaction of an atomic beam with a strong standing wave laser field has been systematically investigated by both theoretical simulation and experiment in this thesis. We have developed a numerical model based on a continued fraction solution for the light pressure forces to simulate the near perpendicular interaction of an atomic beam with a strong standing wave laser field. The reshaping of the transverse spatial profile of an atomic beam by a perpendicular, near resonant, standing wave laser field is investigated for red detunings using a longitudinal velocity selective detection system. The experimental dependence of the reshaped profile on the longitudinal and transverse atomic velocities agrees well with a continued fraction solution for the light force. In particular, a regime is found where channelling of the atoms near the antinodes of the standing wave produces a central peak in the spatial distribution of the atomic beam in the far field which have also been observed elsewhere.

S. Swain

Nikolai B. Delone, В. П. Крайнов

Qiming Lj, Ian C. M. Littler, K. G. H. Baldwin +2 more

The interaction of a beam of two level atoms with a standing wave laser light field has been the subject of extensive investigation in recent times. A standing wave perpendicular to an atomic beam enables the manipulation of the transverse velocity distribution. We have developed a numerical model using a continued fraction solution for the light pressure forces1 to simulate the interaction of an atomic beam with a strong laser field. Using this model, the behaviour of the atoms with small transverse velocity (kv1 « Γ) in a strong standing laser field has been systematically investigated.2