Optical purification of materials based on atom walking in traveling-wave lights

Abstract

An optical method for precise purification of chemical elements is introduced in this paper. The materials are supposed to be in the states of gaseous beams, which are coherently coupled to an external traveling light during purification. Before decoherence occurs, atoms periodically move in the light with different speeds that depends on masses and optical transition wave lengths of these atoms. The speed gradient leads to deflections of different atoms in different directions. The model is described by Schr\"{o}dinger equations with analytical results. This method could be used for some hardly separable atoms and isotopes depending on the condition of atom coherent time. The present work opens a platform for applications of cold atom technology in the purification of atoms and molecules.