Phys. Rev. A 61, 063412 (2000) [6 pages]Observation of radiation pressure exerted by evanescent wavesReceived 21 December 1999; published 16 May 2000 We report a direct observation of radiation pressure, exerted on cold rubidium atoms while bouncing on an evanescent-wave atom mirror. We analyze the radiation pressure by imaging the motion of the atoms after the bounce. The number of absorbed photons is measured for laser detunings ranging from 190 MHz to 1.4 GHz and for angles from 0.9 mrad to 24 mrad above the critical angle of total internal reflection. Depending on these settings, we find velocity changes parallel with the mirror surface, ranging from 1 to 18 cm/s. This corresponds to 2 to 31 photon recoils per atom. These results are independent of the evanescent-wave optical power. © 2000 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevA.61.063412
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevA.61.063412
PACS:
32.80.Lg, 42.50.Vk, 03.75.-b
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