Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Measurement of X-ray Beam Coherence along Multiple Directions Using 2-D Checkerboard Phase Grating
Published on: October 11, 2016
Coherent reflection of he atom beams from rough surfaces at grazing incidence
Bum Suk Zhao1, H Christian Schewe, Gerard Meijer
1Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Berlin, Germany.
Abstract:
We report coherent reflection of thermal He atom beams from various microscopically rough surfaces at grazing incidence. For a sufficiently small normal component k(z) of the incident wave vector of the atom the reflection probability is found to be a function of k(z) only. This behavior is explained by quantum reflection at the attractive branch of the Casimir-van der Waals interaction potential. For larger values of k(z) the overall reflection probability decreases rapidly and is found to also depend on the parallel component k(x) of the wave vector. The material specific k(x) dependence for this classic reflection at the repulsive branch of the potential is discussed in terms of an averaging out of the surface roughness under grazing incidence conditions.
Related Concept Videos
Atomic Emission Spectroscopy: Interference
X-ray Crystallography
Diffraction
Diffraction is the change in the direction of travel experienced by an electromagnetic wave when it encounters a physical barrier whose dimensions are comparable to those of the wavelength of the light. X-rays are electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths about as long as the distance between neighboring...
Reflection of Waves
Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy: Atomization Methods
Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy: Radiation and Light Sources
Two common narrow-range 'line' sources used in AAS are hollow-cathode lamps (HCLs) and...
The de Broglie Wavelength

