Focusing ground-state xenon in a pulsed optical field

We demonstrate a general scheme for manipulating atomic species by focusing ground state xenon atoms using large quasielectrostatic potentials created by high intensity (10(12) W/cm(2)), nanosecond, pulsed optical fields. The atomic density in the focal region was mapped out with a resolution of 2 mu m using resonantly enhanced multiphoton ionization of neutral atoms in the vicinity of the focus. Measurements of the transverse xenon velocity induced by the optical field, and the focal length of the atom-optical lens, are in good agreement with a quasielectrostatic model based on the static polarizablity of xenon.