LASER-INDUCED TRANSPORT OF ATOMS FROM AN ILLUMINATED REGION IN A GAS

A new optical effect in the transport of atoms in dense gases, capilla ries, and porous media is predicted. The origin of this effect lies in superelastic collisions of excited atoms, which give rise to thermal diffusion processes. Model estimates are made for the magnitude of the effects in the absence of flows and in the presence of flows in capil lary systems. It is shown that under certain assumptions regarding sup erelastic collisions of atoms with the walls, the optical effect chang es the transmission of a capillary. (C) 1998 American Institute of Phy sics. [S1063-7842(98)00205-0].