Optics with an atom laser beam - art. no. 030401

We report on the atom optical manipulation of an atom laser beam. Reflectio n, focusing, and its storage in a resonator are demonstrated. Precise and v ersatile mechanical control over an atom laser beam propagating in an inhom ogeneous magnetic field is achieved by optically inducing spin flips betwee n atomic ground states with different magnetic moment. The magnetic force a cting on the atoms can thereby be effectively switched on and off. The surf ace of the atom optical element is determined by the resonance condition fo r the spin flip in the inhomogeneous magnetic field. More than 98% of the i ncident atom laser beam is reflected specularly.