PROPOSAL FOR A MAGNETOOPTICAL LATTICE FOR TRAPPING ATOMS IN NEARLY-DARK STATES

We present a new type of lattice for trapping cold atoms in nearly-dar k states where they weakly interact with light The periodic potential is obtained with fields in a lin perpendicular-to lin configuration tu ned on the blue side of a J --> J transition and in the presence of a uniform static magnetic field. A numerical analysis performed for J = 4 demonstrates the occurrence of very small absorption widths and larg e populations in the lowest vibrational states. These lattices should be interesting for increasing the atomic density and for observing del ocalized atomic wave functions.