Deflection and splitting of atomic beams with counterpropagating, short, chirped laser pulses

The application of counterpropagating, short, chirped laser pulses for the deflection and splitting of an atomic beam is investigated. A simple model is proposed to describe the case in which the pulses induce population transfer in the adiabatic-passage regime and in which the effects of spontaneous emission are negligible during the action of a single laser pulse. Spontaneous emission between the pulses is not neglected, however, and it is shown that it has a significant effect on the evolution of the average transversal velocity of the atoms, as well as the dispersion of the transversal velocity.