XIX. On the diffraction images formed by a plane diffraction-grating

The Diffraction Grating

Atomic diffraction by a thin phase grating

We present a semiclassical perturbation method for the description of atomic diffraction by a weakly modulated potential. It proceeds in a way similar to the treatment of light diffraction by a thin phase grating, and consists in calculating the atomic wavefunction by mean~ of action integrals along the classical trajectories of the atoms in the absence of the modulated part of the potential. T...

Polarizing diffraction-grating triplicators.

We report experimental results with a reflective continuous anisotropic polarizing diffraction-grating beam splitter that produces three diffraction orders. The diffraction efficiencies and polarizations of the diffracted orders are controlled through the incoming polarization state and by use of a wave plate with arbitrary orientation located between the grating and a mirror. In particular, we...

Kapitza-Dirac diffraction without standing waves: diffraction without a grating?

We discuss electron diffraction from two counterpropagating light waves with two different frequencies. We show that, even though these waves do not form a standing wave, electron diffraction similar to the conventional Kapitza-Dirac effect, i.e., scattering on a standing wave, is still possible. The nonlinear response of the electron to the laser fields creates a stationary diffraction grating...

One-way diffraction grating.

Diffraction gratings are elementary tools for much of optics and spectroscopy. Here, at microwave frequencies, we provide a new perspective on these fundamental structures. A transmission diffraction grating is presented that has diffracted beams emanating from one surface only. It can thus function either as a transmission grating with no reflected orders (other than zero) or, in the reverse c...