In the first part of this article we attempt to provide a very brief introduction to atom optics. In the second and third part we report on recent experiments in our group on two specific atom-optical elements that may be useful in atom interferometers and atom cavities: the demonstration of a new beam splitter based on the diffraction of atomic matter waves from a "magneto-optical grating" and the investigation of a mirror based on the reflection of atoms from an evanescent light field.
(1994) Pfau, Tilman; Schnetz, Andreas; Adams, Charles S.; Kurtsiefer, Christian; Sigel, Martin; Mlynek, Jürgen
In the first part of this article we attempt to provide a very brief introduction to atom optics. In the second part we report on a recent experiment in our group on an atom-optical element that may be useful in atom interferometers and atom cavities: the demonstration of a new beam splitter based on the diffraction of atomic matter waves from a "magneto-optical grating".
