dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaUsing Atomic Diffraction of Na from Material Gratings to Measure Atom-Surface Interactions
| Authors | John D. Perreault, Alexander D. Cronin, T. A. Savas |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0312123 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0312123 |
Abstract
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 well collimated beam of sodium atoms is used to illuminate a silicon nitride grating with a period of 100 nm. During passage through the grating slots atoms acquire a phase shift due to the van der Waals interaction with the grating walls. As a result the relative intensities of the matter-wave diffraction peaks deviate from those expected for a purely absorbing grating. Thus a complex transmission function is required to explain the observed diffraction envelopes. An optics perspective to the theory of atomic diffraction from material gratings is put forth in the hopes of providing a more intuitive picture concerning the influence of the vdW potential. The van der Waals coefficient $C_{3} = 2.7\pm 0.8{meV nm}^{3}$ is determined by fitting a modified Fresnel optical theory to the experimental data. This value of $C_{3}$ is consistent with a van der Waals interaction between atomic sodium and a silicon nitride surface.
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"abstract": "In atom optics a material structure is commonly regarded as an amplitude mask\nfor atom waves. However, atomic diffraction patterns formed using material\ngratings indicate that material structures also operate as phase masks. In this\nstudy a well collimated beam of sodium atoms is used to illuminate a silicon\nnitride grating with a period of 100 nm. During passage through the grating\nslots atoms acquire a phase shift due to the van der Waals interaction with the\ngrating walls. As a result the relative intensities of the matter-wave\ndiffraction peaks deviate from those expected for a purely absorbing grating.\nThus a complex transmission function is required to explain the observed\ndiffraction envelopes. An optics perspective to the theory of atomic\ndiffraction from material gratings is put forth in the hopes of providing a\nmore intuitive picture concerning the influence of the vdW potential. The van\nder Waals coefficient $C_{3} = 2.7\\pm 0.8{meV nm}^{3}$ is determined by fitting\na modified Fresnel optical theory to the experimental data. This value of\n$C_{3}$ is consistent with a van der Waals interaction between atomic sodium\nand a silicon nitride surface.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0312123",
"authors": [
"John D. Perreault",
"Alexander D. Cronin",
"T. A. Savas"
],
"categories": [
"physics.atom-ph"
],
"title": "Using Atomic Diffraction of Na from Material Gratings to Measure Atom-Surface Interactions",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0312123"
},
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