We investigate the diffraction characteristics of an incident Gaussian beam cut by a straight edge bounding a semi-infinite opaque plane using Kirchhoff scalar wave theory in the Fresnel limit, and propose a new and simple mirror scheme to reflect atoms by using the intensity gradient induced by a blue-detuned semi-Gaussian laser beam. The optical potential of the diffracted light of the knife-cut semi-Gaussian beam for 85 Rb atom and its spontaneous emission probability are calculated and compared with the performance of the evanescent-wave mirror. Our study shows that the optical potential of the diffracted light of the semi-Gaussian beam is far higher than that of the evanescent light wave, and the maximum normal velocity of the incident atoms can be far greater than that of the evanescent light wave under the same parameters, so the blue-detuned semioGaussian beam, as a novel atomic mirror, can be used to efficiently reflect cold atoms with a normal velocity of greater than 1 m/s. However, the intensity gradient （force） of the diffracted light of the semi-Gaussian-beam is much smaller than that of the evanescent light wave, so its spontaneous emission probability is greater than that from the evanescent-wave when the normal velocity of incident atoms is greater.
This paper proposes a scheme to guide cold polar molecules by using a single charged wire half embanked in an insulating substrate and a homogeneous bias electric field, which is generated by a plate capacitor composed of two infinite parallel metal plates. The spatial distributions of the electrostatic field produced by the combination of the charged wire and the plate capacitor and the corresponding Stark potentials （including dipole forces） for metastable CO molecules are calculated, the relationships between the electric field and the parameters of our charged-wire layout are analysed. It also studies the influences of the insulator on the electric field distribution and the discharge effect. This study shows that the proposed scheme can be used to guide cold polar molecules in the weak-field - seeking states, and to form various molecule-optical elements, such as molecular funnel, molecular beam-splitters and molecule interferometer, even to construct a variety of integrated molecule-optical elements and their molecule chips.
