Optical pressure force in traveling and standing light waves during excitation of a multilevel atom by two-frequency laser radiation

An experimental investigation was made of the behavior of the optical pressure force created by the interaction of a two-frequency laser field with a sodium atom in traveling and standing light waves. It was found that the optical pressure forces due to a traveling wave were quite different for a two-level atom and an atom of sodium. In a standing wave field the motion of atoms was governed mainly by pulsed diffusion.