Standing wave diffraction with a beam of slow atoms

S. Kunze, Stephan Dürr, Kai Dieckmann +5 more

We report on atom optical experiments employing a magnetooptical trap as a source of a pulsed beam of slow atoms. After turning off the trap, experiments are performed on the cloud of atoms in free fall over a distance of 45 cm. We give a detailed description of the apparatus and discuss experimental results on the diffraction of atoms from a standing light wave in the regimes of short, intermediate and long interaction times. PACS: 03.75Be, 32.80Pj, 42.50Vk.

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

E. Arimondo, Arturo Bambini, Stig Stenholm

M. G. Prentiss, A. Cable

We have demonstrated that a continuous supply of slow atoms can be produced using a strong standing wave laser field collinear with an atomic beam.

C. Keller, Jörg Schmiedmayer, Anton Zeilinger +3 more

Bijoy K. Dey

Quantum interference is shown to deliver a means of regulating the diffraction pattern of a thermal atomic beam interacting with two standing-wave electric fields. Parameters have been identified to enhance the diffraction probability of one momentum component over the others, with specific application to Rb atoms.