Coherent manipulation of atoms by co-propagating laser beams

Optical dipole traps and fractional Talbot optical lattices based on the interference between multiple co-propagating laser beams are proposed. The variation of relative amplitudes and phases of the interfering light beams of these traps makes it possible to manipulate the spatial position of trapped atoms. Examples of spatial translation and splitting of atoms between a set of the interference traps are considered. The prospect of constructing all-light atom chips based on the proposed technique is presented.