Observation of channeling of atoms in the three-dimensional interference pattern of optical standing waves
- 2 July 1990
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review Letters
- Vol. 65 (1), 29-32
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.65.29
Abstract
We have observed the channeling of cooled Na atoms in the three-dimensional interference pattern of the light fields in an optical trap. The channeling occurs for length scales from less than 50 μm up to several mm. This channeling may explain the anomalously long lifetimes observed in many such traps. We suggest that these observations may be understood in terms of a multilevel atom in the trapping light field.Keywords
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