Atom gratings produced by large angle atom beam splitters

Nanometer scale period sinusoidal atom gratings produced by a Stern-Gerlach beam splitter

An atom interferometer based on a Stern-Gerlach beam splitter is proposed. Atom scattering from a combination of magnetic quadrupole and homogeneous magnetic fields is considered. Using Raman transitions, atoms are coherently excited into and de-excited from sublevels having nonzero magnetic quantum numbers. The spatial regions in which the atoms are in such sublevels are small and have magnetic fields designed to have constant gradients. Therefore, the atoms experience position-independent accelerations, and the aberration of the coherently separated and recombined atomic beams remains small.…

Photofragmentation beam splitters for matter-wave interferometry

Extending the range of quantum interferometry to a wider class of composite nanoparticles requires new tools to diffract matter waves. Recently, pulsed photoionization light gratings have demonstrated their suitability for high mass matter-wave physics. Here we extend quantum interference experiments to a new class of particles by introducing photofragmentation beam splitters into time-domain matter-wave interferometry. Photofragmentation gratings can act on objects as different as van der Waals clusters and biomolecules which are thermally unstable and often resilient to single-photon ionizat…

Measurement of atomic diffraction phases induced by material gratings

Atom-surface interactions can significantly modify the intensity and phase of atom de Broglie waves diffracted by a silicon nitride grating. This affects the operation of a material grating as a coherent beam splitter. The phase shift induced by diffraction is measured by comparing the relative phases of serveral interfering paths in a Mach-Zehnder Na atom interferometer formed by three material gratings. The values of the diffraction phases are consistent with a simple model which includes a van der Waals atom-surface interaction between the Na atoms and the silicon nitride grating bars.

由光制成的光栅产生的超快电子涡流

Ultrafast electron vortex produced by a grating made of light

本文提出了一种全光学方法，通过光栅产生携带量子化轨道角动量的电子涡流，利用受激康普顿散射实现电子与光子的角动量转移，为自由电子激光和超快电子显微镜提供新应用机遇。

$λ/4$, $λ/8$, and higher order atom gratings via Raman transitions

A method is proposed for producing atom gratings having period $λ/4$ and $λ/8$ using optical fields having wavelength $λ$. Counterpropagating optical fields drive Raman transitions between ground state sublevels. The Raman fields can be described by an effective two photon field having wave vector 2 k, where k is the propagation vector of one of the fields. By combining this Raman field with {\em another} Raman field having propagation vector -2 k, one, in effect, creates a standing wave Raman field \label{91}%which whose ``intensity'' varies as $\cos (4 k\cdot r).$ When atoms move through thi…

Ultrashort intense-field optical vortices produced with laser-etched mirrors

We introduce a simple and practical method to create ultrashort intense optical vortices for applications involving high-intensity lasers. Our method utilizes femtosecond laser pulses to laser-etch grating lines into laser-quality gold mirrors. These grating lines holographically encode an optical vortex. We derive mathematical equations for each individual grating line to be etched, for any desired (integer) topological charge. We investigate the smoothness of the etched grooves. We show that they are smooth enough to produce optical vortices with an intensity that is only a few percent lower…