Related papers: Diffraction of complex molecules by structures mad…

We present a theory for the diffraction of large molecules or nanoparticles at a standing light wave. Such particles can act as a genuine photon absorbers due to their numerous internal degrees of freedom effecting fast internal energy…

We discuss a novel application of matter wave interferometry to characterize the scalar optical polarizability of molecules at 532 nm. The interferometer presented here consists of two material absorptive gratings and one central optical…

A few years ago, diffraction of atoms by double slits and gratings was achieved for the first time, and standard optical wave-theory provided an excellent description of the experiments. More recently, diffraction of weakly bound molecules…

Diffraction is a manifestation of light at edge due to its wavelike nature. The well-known diffraction phenomena are Fresnel and Fraunhofer, they find variety of applications individually. But the synergy of two phenomena is not studied and…

We have studied atomic diffraction at normal incidence from an evanescent standing wave with a high resolution using velocity selective Raman transitions. We have observed up to 3 resolved orders of diffraction, which are well accounted for…

Matter-wave interferometry has become an essential tool in studies on the foundations of quantum physics and for precision measurements. Mechanical gratings have played an important role as coherent beamsplitters for atoms, molecules and…

We experimentally observe the action of multiple light pulses on the transverse motion of a continuous beam of fullerenes. The light potential is generated by non-resonant ultra-short laser pulses in perpendicular spatial overlap with the…

Atomic diffraction through double slits and transmission gratings is well described in terms of the associated de Broglie waves and classical wave optics. However, for weakly bound and relatively large systems, such as the He_2 dimer, this…

Diffraction of atoms from surfaces provides detailed insights into structures, interactions, and dynamical processes. However, currently the method is limited to measurements in reflection - diffraction through materials has only been…

The boundary problem of linear classical optics about the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with a thin dielectric film has been solved under explicit consideration of its discrete structure. The main attention has been paid to the…

Lasers with wavelengths of the order of the atomic size are becoming available. We explore the behavior of light-matter interactions in this emergent field by considering the atomic Kapitza-Dirac effect. We derive the diffraction patterns,…

Typically one expects that when a heavy particle collides with a surface, the scattered angular distribution will follow classical mechanics. The heavy mass assures that the de Broglie wavelength of the incident particle in the direction of…

Novel optical phenomena, including electromagnetically induced transparency, slow light, superluminal light propagation, have recently been demonstrated in diverse physical implementations. These phenomena are challenging to realize in…

An electron beam traversing a structured plasmonic field is shown to undergo diffraction with characteristic angular patterns of both elastic and inelastic outgoing electron components. In particular, a plasmonic {\it grating} (e.g., a…

The observation and electrical manipulation of infrared surface plasmons in graphene have triggered a search for similar photonic capabilities in other atomically thin materials that enable electrical modulation of light at visible and…

It has recently been shown that optical reflection gratings fabricated directly into an atom chip provide a simple and effective way to trap and cool substantial clouds of atoms [1,2]. In this article we describe how the gratings are…

Advances in micro-technology of the last years have made it possible to carry optics textbooks experiments over to atomic and molecular beams, such as diffraction by a double slit or transmission grating. The usual wave-optical approach…

In atom optics a material structure is commonly regarded as an amplitude mask for atom waves. However, atomic diffraction patterns formed using material gratings indicate that material structures also operate as phase masks. In this study a…

Complex molecules are intriguing objects at the interface between quantum and classical phenomena. Compared to the electrons, neutrons, or atoms studied in earlier matter-wave experiments, they feature a much more complicated internal…

We review recent theoretical models and experiments dealing with the diffraction of neutral atoms from a reflection grating, formed by a standing evanescent wave. We analyze diffraction mechanisms proposed for normal and grazing incidence,…