Elastic and inelastic evanescent-wave mirrors for cold atoms

Evanescent Light - Wave Atom Mirrors , Resonators , Waveguides , and Traps

Coherent inelastic backscattering of intense laser light by cold atoms.

We present a nonperturbative treatment of coherent backscattering of intense laser light from cold atoms and predict a nonvanishing backscattering signal even at very large intensities, due to the constructive (self-)interference of inelastically scattered photons.

New Physics with Evanescent Wave Atomic Mirrors: The van der Waals Force and Atomic Diffraction

After a brief introduction to the Ðeld of atom optics and to atomic mirrors, we present experimental results obtained in our group during the last two years while studying the reÑection of rubidium atoms by an evanescent wave. These involve the Ðrst measurement of the van der Waals force between an atom in its ground state and a dielectric wall, as well as the demonstration of a reÑection grati...

Elastic and Inelastic

Evanescent Wave Illumination

When an electromagnetic wave (light) in a dielectric medium of index n1 is incident upon an interface of a different dielectric material of a lower optical density, n2 at an angle θ1 greater than the critical angle, θc = sin−1(n2/n1), total internal reflection (TIR) occurs. Although all of the incident energy is reflected, an electromagnetic field with exponentially decreasing intensity propaga...