Diffraction by cold atoms
F. Strauch, V. Gomer, H. Schadwinkel, B. Ueberholz, D. Haubrich, D. Meschede
Opt. Comm. 145 57 (1997)
Abstract
We have observed diffraction of a laser probe beam by a trapped sample of cold atoms. The effect is only visible in the vicinity of a resonance line. The observed diffraction pattern arises from interference of the incident and scattered light wave, allowing reconstruction of geometric properties of the trapped sample from the holographic record.