Optical forces on atoms subject to higher-order Poincaré vortex modes

TY - JOUR

T1 - Optical forces on atoms subject to higher-order Poincaré vortex modes

AU - Bougouffa, Smail

AU - Babiker, Mohamed

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2025 American Physical Society.

PY - 2025/1/21

Y1 - 2025/1/21

N2 - The interaction of atoms with higher-order Poincaré optical vortex modes of order m≥0 is explored for light close to resonance with atomic dipole transitions. It is well known that atoms subject to optical vortex modes experience both translational and rotational forces acting on the atomic center of mass, leading to atom dynamics and atom trapping. Here we consider the optical forces on atoms immersed in general paraxial higher-order Poincaré optical vector modes. The coupling to atoms gives rise to wide-ranging scenarios involving such modes in which any specific polarization is within a spectrum of wave polarization and all the interactions are treatable within a single formulation. We show that this gives rise to a variety of physical situations, governed by the mode order m, the polarization represented by the angular coordinates of the mode on the surface of the unit Poincaré sphere, the atomic transitions involved, and their selection rules. We present the analytical steps leading to the optical forces on sodium atoms and display their variations in various situations.

AB - The interaction of atoms with higher-order Poincaré optical vortex modes of order m≥0 is explored for light close to resonance with atomic dipole transitions. It is well known that atoms subject to optical vortex modes experience both translational and rotational forces acting on the atomic center of mass, leading to atom dynamics and atom trapping. Here we consider the optical forces on atoms immersed in general paraxial higher-order Poincaré optical vector modes. The coupling to atoms gives rise to wide-ranging scenarios involving such modes in which any specific polarization is within a spectrum of wave polarization and all the interactions are treatable within a single formulation. We show that this gives rise to a variety of physical situations, governed by the mode order m, the polarization represented by the angular coordinates of the mode on the surface of the unit Poincaré sphere, the atomic transitions involved, and their selection rules. We present the analytical steps leading to the optical forces on sodium atoms and display their variations in various situations.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85216394852&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevA.111.013520

DO - 10.1103/PhysRevA.111.013520

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85216394852

SN - 2469-9926

VL - 111

JO - Physical Review A

JF - Physical Review A

IS - 1

M1 - 013520

ER -