Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics
Scattering of atoms in a bichromatic field of oppositely propagating light pulses
V. I. Romanenko, Леонід Петрович Яценко
Abstract
The interaction of a two-level atom with two light pulses which have different carrier frequencies and propagate in opposite directions is studied in the adiabatic approximation. It is shown that when there is a delay between the light pulses, the momentum of the atom changes, as a result of the interaction with the laser field, by a definite amount that depends on the amplitude of the light pulses and on the difference of their carrier frequencies. It is predicted that the momentum transfer to the atom is a step function of the amplitude of the light pulses.