Standing wave diffraction with a beam of slow atoms

Abstract

We report on atom optical experiments employing a magnetooptical trap as a source of a pulsed beam of slow atoms. After turning off the trap, experiments are performed on the cloud of atoms in free fall over a distance of 45 cm. We give a detailed description of the apparatus and discuss experimental results on the diffraction of atoms from a standing light wave in the regimes of short, intermediate and long interaction times. PACS: 03.75Be, 32.80Pj, 42.50Vk.