We have observed the bichromatic force on metastable He using fiber amplifiers to produce the high power of light needed at $\lambda =1.083\mathrm{}\hspace{0.5em}\mu \mathrm{m}.$ We have done deflection experiments to confirm that the very large magnitude of the force scales to He, and preliminary deceleration experiments for eventual trap loading. Our measurements support earlier experiments in Rb. Helium is ideally suited for this kind of beam slowing because its slowing length with the usual radiative force is more than a factor of 100 larger than with the bichromatic force. Thus, loading a MOT will be much more effective because of the much larger angular capture range associated with the shorter distance.

• Received 23 August 2000

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.63.025406