Abstract
There has been considerable interest in the force experienced by a three-level atom interacting with a nultichromatic optical field.1–4 Several theoretical results have emerged, each of which emphasizes different aspects of the interaction. The three-level Λ system (see Fig. 1) has been of particular interest. In this case the force has beet) discussed in terms of the nonlinear mixing of the fields,1 in terms of the role of the dark or transparent superposition ground state,4 and in terms of a combination of optical pumping and light shifts. In each of these treatments an important result has been the prediction of a long- wavelength, or rectified, force. This is a force component that is periodic over the beat wavelength of the bichromatic field, a length that for many atoms can be of the order of centimeters.
© 1993 Optical Society of America
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