Dark state atom mirrors based on artificial gauge fields created by surface optical vortices

We propose the construction of an atom mirror for cold three-level atoms in a dark state where the forces, responsible for the atomic reflection, are provided by artificial gauge fields. These fields are created from the total internal reflection of optical vortex beams with Gaussian intensity profiles at the interface of a dielectric prism and vacuum. We investigate the role of the photon angular momentum in the magnitude of these fields and consequently on the efficiency of atomic reflection.