TY - JOUR
T1 - Measurement of atomic diffraction phases induced by material gratings
AU - Perreault, John D.
AU - Cronin, Alexander D.
PY - 2006
Y1 - 2006
N2 - 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 shifts induced by diffraction are measured by comparing the relative phases of several 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.
AB - 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 shifts induced by diffraction are measured by comparing the relative phases of several 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.
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U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevA.73.033610
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevA.73.033610
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33645002317
SN - 1050-2947
VL - 73
JO - Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
JF - Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
IS - 3
M1 - 033610
ER -