Abstract

The localization of atoms on a scale small compared to the optical wavelength is of both scientific and technological importance. For example, improvements in experiments in cavity QED that probe the energy spectrum and dynamics of a coupled atom-cavity system¹ and that attempt to create arbitrary quantum states of the electromagnetic field² require atomic localization along the antinomies of a standing-wave light field. However, presently available methods, such as focusing in a nearly resonant standing wave³ and passage through a single transmission grating,¹ suffer from the requirement of a small beam divergence.

© 1994 Optical Society of America