Imaging and focusing of atoms by a fresnel zone plate

Focusing of and imaging with atoms by means of a spherical Fresnel zone plate has been observed for the first time. An intense beam of metastable helium atoms with atomic de Broglie wavelength ${\lambda }_{\mathrm{dB}}$=0.5–2.5 Å is passed through either a single or a double slip with dimensions in the 10-μm range. This transverse intensity distribution is imaged by a Fresnel zone plate, 210 μm in diameter and with an innermost zone diameter of 18.76 μm. For ${\lambda }_{\mathrm{dB}}$=1.96 Å the focal length is 0.45 m. The imaging properties of the zone plate are presented and compared with numerical calculations.