Potentialities of a new σ+-σ-laser configuration for radiative cooling and trapping

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Abstract
In the process of cooling and trapping neutral atoms, the authors investigate a new laser configuration, which consists of two counterpropagating laser beams with orthogonal sigma + and sigma - polarisations. They show that such a configuration looks more promising than an ordinary standing wave (where the two counterpropagating waves have the same polarisation), and they explain this result as being due to angular momentum conservation which prevents any coherent redistribution of photons between the two waves. The authors' conclusions are based on a quantitative calculation of the various parameters (potential depth, friction coefficient, diffusion coefficient) describing the mean value and the fluctuations of the radiative forces experienced, in such a laser configuration, by an atom with a J=0 ground state and a J=1 excited state.