Atom Diffraction

Diffraction of matter waves from crystal surfaces, nanostructures, and laser light — the technique that started atom interferometry.

Specifications & Metrics

type

Atom Optics

Core Principles & Analysis

• Interference with atomic and molecular matter waves started with atom diffraction from crystal surfaces.
• Modern coherent atom-optics tools include diffraction by nanostructures and by laser light.
• Together with three-grating interferometers, these form the basic toolkit of atom interferometry.

Sources

• Cronin, Schmiedmayer & Pritchard, Rev. Mod. Phys. 81, 1051 (2009): Optics and interferometry with atoms and molecules