Beams of atom matter waves with optical properties
Atom optics (or atomic optics) "refers to techniques to manipulate the trajectories and exploit the
wave properties of neutral atoms".[1] Typical experiments employ beams of cold, slowly moving neutral
atoms, as a special case of a
particle beam. Like an
optical beam, the atomic beam may exhibit
diffraction and
interference, and can be focused with a Fresnel
zone plate[2] or a concave
atomic mirror.[3]
For comprehensive overviews of atom optics, see the 1994 review by Adams, Sigel, and Mlynek[1] or the 2009 review by Cronin, Jörg, and Pritchard.[4] More bibliography about Atom Optics can be found in the 2017 Resource Letter in the
American Journal of Physics.[5] For quantum atom optics see the 2018 review by Pezzè
et al.[6]
History
Interference of atom
matter waves was first observed by Esterman and
Stern in 1930, when a
Na beam was diffracted off a surface of
NaCl.[7] The short
de Broglie wavelength of atoms prevented progress for many years until two technological breakthroughs revived interest:
microlithography allowing precise small devices and
laser cooling allowing atoms to be slowed, increasing their de Broglie wavelength.[1]
Until 2006, the resolution of imaging systems based on
atomic beams was not better than that of an optical
microscope, mainly due to the poor performance of the
focusing elements. Such elements use small
numerical aperture; usually, atomic mirrors use
grazing incidence, and the
reflectivity drops drastically with increase of the grazing angle; for efficient normal reflection, atoms should be
ultracold, and dealing with such atoms usually involves
magnetic,
magneto-optical or
optical traps.
At the beginning of the 21st century scientific publications about "atom nano-optics",
evanescent field lenses[8] and
ridged mirrors[9][10]
showed significant improvement.
[11] In particular, an atomic
hologram can be realized.[12]
^Rohwedder, B. (2007). "Resource Letter AON-1: Atom optics, a tool for nanofabrication". American Journal of Physics. 75 (5): 394–406.
Bibcode:
2007AmJPh..75..394R.
doi:
10.1119/1.2673209.
^Pezzè, Luca; Smerzi, Augusto; Oberthaler, Markus K.; Schmied, Roman; Treutlein, Philipp (2018-09-05). "Quantum metrology with nonclassical states of atomic ensembles". Reviews of Modern Physics. 90 (3). American Physical Society (APS): 035005.
arXiv:1609.01609.
doi:
10.1103/revmodphys.90.035005.
ISSN0034-6861.
S2CID119250709.
Meystre, Pierre (2001). Atom Optics. Springer series on atomic, optical, and plasma physics, 33. New York: AIP Press/Springer.
ISBN0387952748.
OCLC45962873.
ASIN0387952748