Physical Review A

Numerical modeling of evanescent-wave atom optics

Craig M. Savage, Dan Gordon, Timothy C. Ralph

Published Dec 1, 1995• 11 citations

Abstract

We numerically solve the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation for a two-level atom interacting with an evanescent light field. The atom may be reflected or diffracted. Using the experimental parameter values we quantitatively model the evanescent field dopplerons (velocity-tuned resonances) observed by Stenlake et al. [Phys. Rev. A 49, 16 (1994)]. Besides successfully modeling the experiment, our approach provides complementary insights to the usual solution of the time-independent Schr\"odinger equation. We neglect spontaneous emission.

DOI: 10.1103/physreva.52.4741

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