Snapshots of the outgoing wave packets at t = 3.4 μs

Figure 2. Snapshots of the outgoing wave packets at t = 3.4 μs. Coordinate (in linear scale) and momentum distribution (in semilogarithmic scale) for a particle reflected on the oscillating surface (amplitude d = 4 nm) for different frequencies ω and fixed x₀ = 4 × 10⁻¹⁰ m (black curves). Red dashed lines: corresponding distributions for the static potential.

Abstract

We describe an experimentally realistic situation of the quantum reflection of helium atoms from an oscillating surface. The temporal modulation of the potential induces clear sidebands in the reflection probability as a function of momentum. These sidebands could be exploited to slow down atoms and molecules in the experiment.