%0 Journal Article
%T Observation of radiation pressure exerted by evanescent waves
%A D. Voigt
%A B. T. Wolschrijn
%A R. Jansen
%A N. Bhattacharya
%A R. J. C. Spreeuw
%A H. B. van Linden van den Heuvell
%J Physics
%D 1999
%I arXiv
%R 10.1103/PhysRevA.61.063412
%X 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.
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9912101v2