Bessel beams of two-level atoms driven by a linearly polarized laser field

TL;DR

This paper develops a theoretical framework for creating and analyzing Bessel beams of two-level atoms driven by a linearly polarized laser, revealing tunable non-trivial probability densities and potential applications in quantum technologies.

Contribution

It introduces a method to construct Bessel beams of laser-driven two-level atoms beyond the paraxial approximation, including atoms with orbital angular momentum.

Findings

Probability density exhibits Bessel-squared-type behavior.

Beam properties can be tuned via atom and laser parameters.

Applicable to twisted states of various two-level systems.

Abstract

We study Bessel beams of two-level atoms that are driven by a linearly polarized laser field. Starting from the Schroedinger equation, we determine the states of two-level atoms in a plane-wave field respecting propagation directions both of the atom and the field. For such laser-driven two-level atoms, we construct Bessel beams beyond the typical paraxial approximation. We show that the probability density of these atomic beams obtains a non-trivial, Bessel-squared-type behavior and can be tuned under the special choice of the atom and laser parameters, such as the nuclear charge, atom velocity, laser frequency, and propagation geometry of the atom and laser beams. Moreover, we spatially and temporally characterize the beam of hydrogen and selected (neutral) alkali-metal atoms that carry non-zero orbital angular momentum (OAM). The proposed spatiotemporal Bessel states (i) are able to describe, in principle, twisted states of any two-level system which is driven by the radiation field and (ii) have potential applications in atomic, nuclear processes and quantum communication.