William D. Phillips
Laser Cooling and Trapping Group
Atomic Physics Division, Physics Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
 

Because of the deBroglie wave nature of atoms, many of
the phenomena familiar in "photon" optics can also be observed in
"atom" optics.  These include diffraction, Bragg scattering, and
interferometry.  With the experimental achievement of Bose-Einstein
condensation of atomic gases, we now have coherent atom sources for
atom optics analogous to laser sources for photon optics.  We have
performed a number of wave-optics experiments using Bose condensates,
including the first demonstrations of non-linear atom optics:  four
wave mixing of deBroglie waves, and soliton propagation in a Bose
condensate.