In atom optics a material structure is commonly regarded as an amplitude mask for atom waves. However, atomic diffraction patterns formed using material gratings indicate that material structures also operate as phase masks. In this study a well collimated beam of sodium atoms is used to illuminate a silicon nitride grating with a period of 100 nm. During passage through the grating slots atoms acquire a phase shift due to the van der Waals (vdW) interaction with the grating walls. As a result the relative intensities of the matter-wave diffraction peaks deviate from those expected for a purely absorbing grating. Thus a complex transmission function is required to explain the observed diffraction envelopes. An optics perspective to the theory of atomic diffraction from material gratings is put forth in the hopes of providing a more intuitive picture concerning the influence of the vdW potential. The van der Waals coefficient $C_3=2.7\pm 0.8\mathrm{meV}{\mathrm{nm}}^3$ is determined by fitting a modified Fresnel optical theory to the experimental data. This value of $C_3$ is consistent with a van der Waals interaction between atomic sodium and a silicon nitride surface.

• Received 19 December 2003

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.71.053612