Collimation of atomic beams by resonant laser radiation pressure

The application of the resonant light pressure created by an axially symmetrical light field for collimating atomic beams has been considered. As an example, consideration is given to the possibility of collimating an atomic beam by the light field produced by the reflection of a plane wave from the internal surface of a metal cone. It has been shown that the radiation pressure can reduce the atomic-beam transverse velocities to the value of the order of 100 cm/s which corresponds to effective temperature of about 10^–3 K. A method for producing collimated beams of cold atoms based on simultaneous deceleration and collimation of atomic beams by resonant laser radiation pressure is proposed.