https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2013-40027-4
Regular Article
Atomic diffraction by light gratings with very short wavelengths
Centro de Láseres Pulsados, CLPU 37008
Salamanca,
Spain
a e-mail: psanchos@aemet.es
Received:
15
January
2013
Received in final form:
26
March
2013
Published online:
20
June
2013
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, which are in principle experimentally testable. From a fundamental point of view, our proposal provides an example of system where the periodicity of the diffraction grating is comparable to the size of the diffracted object.
Key words: Optical Phenomena and Photonics
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag 2013