Kapitza-Dirac effect with traveling waves

Abstract

We report on the possibility of diffracting electrons from light waves traveling inside a dielectric medium. We show that, in the frame of reference which moves with the group velocity of light, the traveling wave acts as a stationary diffraction grating from which electrons can diffract, similar to the conventional Kapitza-Dirac effect. To characterize the Kapitza-Dirac effect with traveling light waves, we make use of the Hamiltonian Analogy between electron optics and quantum mechanics and apply the Helmholtz-Kirchhoff theory of diffraction.