Physical Review A

Diffraction of an atomic beam by a phase-fluctuating standing light wave

Benno H. W. Hendriks, Gerard Nienhuis

Published Dec 1, 1987• 4 citations

Abstract

We consider an atomic beam at normal incidence with a standing wave of light with phase fluctuations and we evaluate the momentum distribution of the diffracted atoms after passing through the light beam. We consider the independent-increment model or the random-jump model for the phase of the light, and the random-jump model for the light frequency. In each of these three cases we distinguish the situation of independent or identical phases of the two counter-running light waves that compose the standing wave. For identical phases, the momentum distribution seems to be sensitive mainly to the spectrum of the light, whereas for independent phases higher correlation functions are also important.

DOI: 10.1103/physreva.36.5615

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