2018/04/30 by S. E. Galica, Scott Galica, L. Aldridge +6 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Atomic physics #Beam (structure) #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Deflection (physics) #Force field (fiction) #Laser #Laser beams #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #Mechanics #Molecular beam #Molecule #Optics #Orbital Angular Momentum in Optics #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Radiation pressure #Supersonic speed #physics.atom-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreva.98.023408
published as Phys. Rev. A 98, 023408 (2018) · 5 Pages, 4 figures
arxiv created 2018/07/25 · openalex publication_date 2018/08/13 · arxiv updated 2018/08/22 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
We demonstrate that a bichromatic standing-wave laser field can exert a significantly larger force on a molecule than ordinary radiation pressure. Our experiment measures the deflection of a pulsed supersonic beam of CaF molecules by a two-frequency laser field detuned symmetrically about resonance with the nearly closed X(v=0)\ensuremath→B(v^\ensuremath'=0) transition. The inferred force as a function of relative phase between the two counterpropagating beams is in reasonable agreement with numerical simulations of the bichromatic force in this multilevel system. The large magnitude of the force, coupled with the reduced rate of spontaneous emission, indicates its potential utility in the production and manipulation of ultracold molecules.