Focusing Atom Laser Beams
We theoretically study the focusing of a quasi-continuous atom laser beam of rubidium-85 ($^{85}$Rb). A two-sate model analysis based on the Gross-Pitaevskii equation is used which comprises the effects of two-body atom-atom interactions and three-body recombination losses. Utilizing optical focusing potentials such as harmonic potentials, the essential factors such as the width, peak density and atom loss rate of the focused atom laser beam profile are investigated. Our analysis predicts that using an atom laser offers a dramatic improvement in resolution of up to $8$ nm.