Crystallography of optical lattices

We present a theoretical study of three- and four-beam configurations that generalize, in the two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) cases, the well-known 1D lin ⊥ lin (two counterpropagating beams having crossed linear polarizations) and magnetic-assisted Sisyphus effect cooling schemes. It is shown how the Bravais lattice is determined from the propagation directions of the laser beams while the basis is associated with the polarizations of the incident waves. The optical potentials are calculated for a ${\mathit{J}}_{\mathit{g}}$=1/2→${\mathit{J}}_{\mathit{e}}$=3/2 transition for a variety of angular and polarization configurations and some of the characteristics of the atomic motion inside a single micrometer-sized potential well are predicted.