Kapitza–Dirac effect with traveling waves

Abstract

We report on the possibility of diffracting electrons from light waves traveling inside a dielectric medium. We show that, in the frame of reference which moves with the group velocity of light, the traveling wave acts as a stationary diffraction grating from which electrons can diffract, similar to the conventional Kapitza–Dirac effect. To characterize the Kapitza–Dirac effect with traveling light waves, we make use of the Hamiltonian Analogy between electron optics and quantum mechanics and apply the Helmholtz–Kirchhoff theory of diffraction.