C. Kurtsiefer et al., TIME-RESOLVED DETECTION OF ATOMS DIFFRACTED FROM A STANDING LIGHT-WAVE, Applied physics. B, Lasers and optics, 60(2-3), 1995, pp. 229-232
We present a time-resolved experimental observation of the diffraction
of metastable helium atoms from a nearly resonant standing light wave
. The application of a time-resolved detection technique and a pulsed
source allows to resolve high diffraction orders, which are populated
in the atom-light interaction. Furthermore, the rms momentum transfer
from the light field on the atom as a function of the interaction time
is investigated. Future applications of this technique may be the det
ailed investigation of the motion of atoms in standing light waves and
the detection of correlations between spontaneously emitted photons a
nd atoms.