Backward diffraction of electrons by a standing light wave

H. de Lang

Peter J. Martin, P. L. Gould, Bruce G. Oldaker +2 more

Claudia Keller, Jörg Schmiedmayer, Anton Zeilinger

Dan Freimund, Kayvan Aflatooni, Herman Batelaan

Abstract In their famous 1927 experiment, Davisson and Germer observed1 the diffraction of electrons by a periodic material structure, so showing that electrons can behave like waves. Shortly afterwards, Kapitza2 and Dirac3 predicted that electrons should also be diffracted by a standing light wave4. This Kapitza–Dirac effect is analogous to the diffraction of light by a grating, but with the roles of the wave and matter reversed. The electron and the light grating interact extremely weakly, via the ‘ponderomotive potential’5, so attempts to measure the Kapitza–Dirac effect had to wait for the development of the laser. The idea6 that the underlying interaction with light is resonantly enhanced for electrons in an atom led to the observation7 that atoms could be diffracted by a standing wave of light. Deflection of electrons by high-intensity laser light, which is also a consequence of the Kapitza–Dirac effect, has also been demonstrated8. But the coherent interference that characterizes wave diffraction has not hitherto been observed9, 10. Here we report the diffraction of free electrons from a standing light wave—a realization of the Kapitza–Dirac effect as originally proposed.

Olga V. Smirnova, Daniel L. Freimund, Herman Batelaan +1 more

We discuss electron diffraction from two counterpropagating light waves with two different frequencies. We show that, even though these waves do not form a standing wave, electron diffraction similar to the conventional Kapitza-Dirac effect, i.e., scattering on a standing wave, is still possible. The nonlinear response of the electron to the laser fields creates a stationary diffraction grating from which the same electron scatters.

F. Ehlotzky

The one-dimensional problem of electron scattering by a standing light wave, known as the Kapitza–Dirac effect, is shown to be easily extendable to two and three dimensions, thus showing all characteristics of diffraction of electrons by simple two- and three-dimensional rectangular lattices.