Capture of atoms and small particles in an optical trap formed by sequences of counter-propagating light pulses with a large area

Abstract

A new trap for atoms and small particles based on the interaction between an atom and the field of counter-propagating light pulses that are partially superposed in time has been proposed. A substantial difference from the known analogs consists in that the atom-field interaction is close to the adiabatic one, which allows a considerably higher momentum to be transferred to the atom within the same time interval and makes the trap smaller in size. It has been shown that, owing to the dependence of the light pressure force on the atom velocity, the atomic ensemble is cooled at its interaction with the field.