Atom slowing via dispersive optical interactions
Résumé
Inelastic processes occuring in thermal-velocity metastable atoms and molecules passing at a mean distance (1-100 nm) are investigated. These processes are caused by the quadrupolar part of the van der Waals interaction: fine-structure transitions in atoms (Ar ⁄ , Kr ⁄), rovibrational transitions in N Ã 2 (3 R þ u), transitions among magnetic sub-levels in the presence of a magnetic field.