Laser Light Pressure on Atoms

V. I. Balykin, Vladilen S Letokhov, A. I. Sidorov

Rudolf Grimm, J. Mlynek

We report on detailed studies of the effect of resonant light pressure on the optical response of an atomic gas to a single monochromatic laser field. In this very elementary situation of laser spectroscopy, the redistribution of atomic velocities that is induced by spontaneous light pressure leads to a novel contribution to the optical dispersion curve of the medium. This light-pressure-induced dispersion phenomenon displays a pronounced nonlinear dependence on the laser intensity. Moreover, for a given intensity, its strength is closely related to the laser beam diameter. As most important feature, this light-pressure-induced dispersion displays an even symmetry with respect to the optical detuning from line center. As a result, the total Doppler-broadened dispersion curve of the gas can become asymmetric, and a significant shift of the dispersion line center can occur. In addition to a detailed theoretical description of the phenomenon, we report on its experimental investigation on the \ensuremath{\lambda}=555.6 nm $^{1}$${\mathit{S}}_{0}$${\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}^{3}$${\mathit{P}}_{1}$ transition in atomic ytterbium vapor with the use of frequency-modulation spectroscopy. The experimental findings are in good quantitative agreement with theoretical predictions.

Vladilen S Letokhov, Vladimir G. Minogin

E. Giacobino, Astrid Lambrecht, Jean-Michel Courty +1 more

Yuzhu Wang, Chao Ye, Yongsheng Wu +5 more

Experimental observation of laser cooling and collimation of moving atoms in an absorption cell by light pressure force of an intense standing light wave field is reported. The hyper-fine structure of atomic sodium has been observed due to the cooled and collimated atoms and the mechanism of laser cooling and collimation of atoms is discussed.

Alain Aspect