Atom diffraction from magnetic gratings in the thin phase-grating approximation

The problem of atom diffraction from a reflecting magnetic diffraction grat ing is solved in the thin phase-grating approximation. The general problem for scalar diffraction is modelled using a semiclassical method in which th e grating potential is separated into a reflecting term and a diffracting t erm. The trajectory of the atom in the reflecting potential is solved class ically and the atom wave function in the diffracting potential found by int egrating the phase change along the classical trajectory. The diffraction o rders are obtained after Fourier transforming the result. This can be done independently of the grating potential resulting in a general formula for t he diffraction efficiencies. The general result is applied to the problem o f atom diffraction from a magnetic grating. Several approximations are requ ired to reduce the problem to a form amenable to analytic solution. The res ults are compared with an accurate numerical method.