Resolved diffraction patterns from a reflection grating for atoms

Abstract

We have studied atomic diffraction at normal incidence from an evanescent standing wave with a high resolution using velocity selective Raman transitions. We have observed up to 3 resolved orders of diffraction, which are well accounted for by a scalar diffraction theory. In our experiment the transverse coherence length of the source is greater than the period of the diffraction grating.

8 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (5)

• From Single to Multiple-Photon Decoherence in an Atom Interferometer
• Specular reflection of matter waves from a rough mirror
• Theory of atomic diffraction from evanescent waves
• Observation of radiation pressure exerted by evanescent waves
• Creating a low-dimensional quantum gas using dark states in an inelastic evanescent-wave mirror