Abstract
We report an experimental demonstration of diffraction of atoms from a magneto-optical grating. The grating was produced by the interaction of three-level atoms with a light field of spatially varying polarization and a magnetic field. For a light shift matched to the Zeeman shift, a two-peaked diffraction pattern was observed, corresponding to a momentum splitting of 42ħk. The effect of changing the polarizations of the light field was investigated. The diffraction from the magneto-optical grating is compared directly with the diffraction of two-level atoms from a standing light wave and it is shown, that the magneto-optical interaction leads to more efficient coupling into high order momentum states.
- Received 21 July 1993
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.71.3427
©1993 American Physical Society