Particle manipulation with nonadiabatic ponderomotive forces

Average, or ponderomotive potentials effectively seen by particles in oscillating fields allow advanced techniques of particle manipulation inaccessible with static potentials. In strongly inhomogeneous fields the ponderomotive force is phase dependent, and the particle dynamics resembles that of a quantum object in a conservative barrier. Probabilistic transmission through a ponderomotive potential is then possible and can be used for particle beam slicing. Resonant fields can also cool and trap particles exhibiting natural oscillations (e.g., Larmor rotation), as well as transmit them asymmetrically; hence, acting as one-way walls. An approximate integral of particle motion is found for this case and a new ponderomotive potential is introduced accordingly.