A Planar de Broglie Waveguide

Atom optical analoga exist for many light-optical elements likemirrors, lenses and beam splitters. Light - or generallyelectromagnetic fields - and matter virtually exchange roles: Opticalelements correspond to electromagnetic fields and light fields tomatter waves. The goal of this thesis was to realize a de Brogliewaveguide: A standing wave was generated by reflecting a laser beam ona gold coated prism surface. Near the resonance frequency of an atomictransition in metastable argon the light field exercises a dipoleforce, which can be described by a potential proportional to theintensity distribution of the interferece patterns of the lightfield. Atoms with small enough kinetic energy can be stored in thepotential minima.In longitudinal direction to the standing wave the center of massmotion of these atoms is strongly confined. It is characterised by adiscreet quantum mechanical mode structure where the energy distanceof the indivdual motional states is big compared to theiruncertainty. Transversally the atoms can virtually move freely,i.e. their mode spectrum is continual. Therefore one single potentialminimum can be considered a resonator for atomic de Broglie waves andcan be regarded as the atom optical analogon of a two-dimensialwaveguide in light optics.A de Broglie waveguide provides a possiblity of examining a nearlytwo-dimensional gas of ultracold atoms in front of a surface. Moreovera continuous laser-like source of atoms may be realized on thisbasis