OBSERVATION OF CHANNELING OF ATOMS IN THE 3-DIMENSIONAL INTERFERENCE PATTERN OF OPTICAL STANDING WAVES

We have observed the channeling of cooled Na atoms in the three-dimensional interference pattern of the light fields in an optical trap. The channeling occurs for length scales from less than 50m up to several mm. This channeling may explain the anomalously long lifetimes observed in many such traps. We suggest that these observations may be understood in terms of a multilevel atom in the trapping light field. © 1990 The American Physical Society.