Four-beam laser trap of neutral atoms.

An efficient spontaneous-force laser trap of neutral atoms without standing waves is demonstrated by using the Ne 1s(5) metastable state. The metastable Ne beam is decelerated by a laser by using Zeeman tuning and is trapped in a trap consisting of a quadrupole magnetic field and four laserbeams in a tetrahedral configuration. The dynamics of atomic motion from the deceleration stage to the trap is discussed.