MOTION OF THE ATOM IN A LASER FIELD

Christoph Maschler, Helmut Ritsch

V. I. Balykin, Vladilen S Letokhov, Yu. B. Ovchinnikov +2 more

Jonathan A. Jones, Dieter Jaksch

Z. Ficek, Mohamed Ridza Wahiddin

In quantum optical problems involving the interaction of atoms with laser fields, the atoms are usually considered being stationary during the interaction. Since every photon has a momentum, the atomic momentum (motion) can be changed in the process of absorption and emission of photons. This may force a stationary atom to move or to change momentum of an already moving atom. Therefore, the dynamical behaviour of atoms can be varied by the interaction with a radiation field. For a weak driving field, the influence of this field on the atomic motion can be neglected. However, the intensities of laser fields are generally very strong, and then the motion of the atoms can be considerably changed by the laser field. Here, we discuss this aspect, especially the effect of a driving field on the motion of atoms and the atomic momentum distribution. In particular, we will consider diffraction of atoms by a standing-wave laser field due to an exchange of momentum with the photons of the wave, and radiation force on atoms driven by a running-or standing-wave laser field.

V. I. Romanenko, Udovitska Olena, Леонід Петрович Яценко

We apply Monte Carlo wave function method and classical mechanics to description of the atomic motion in the field of laser radiation. Simultaneous use of quantum and classical mechanics for description of inner and translational motion avoids quantization of the translational degrees of freedom. The calculation are carried out for the example of atomic motion in the field of counter-propagating laser waves, one of which repeats the other. It is shown that such scheme of the atom-field interaction leads to confinement of atoms and their cooling by the same laser beams for proper the atom-field interaction parameters. The cases of laser pulses, bichromatic waves and stochastic field (the model of coloured noise) are analyzed.

Nikolai L. Manakov, Vitalii D Ovsiannikov, Л. П. Рапопорт