(color online) Experimental and simulation data showing the dependence of atomic beam characteristics on polarization of the pushing beam. (a) Mean longitudinal velocity versus polarization of the pushing beam. (b) Atomic flux versus polarization of the pushing beam. The black rectangles are the experimental results and the red circles the numerical results. The horizontal axis represents the polarization angle of the pushing beam in the unit of π/16 rad and with the zero angle corresponding to a pure σ⁺ transition.