Improving the specularity of magnetic mirrors for atoms

Abstract:

An array of anti-parallel current-carrying wires creates an inhomogeneous magnetic field capable of reflecting neutral atoms. We present analytical and numerical analyses of the magnetic field produced by such an array, and describe methods for reducing the resulting rms angular deviation from specular reflection to less than 0.1 mrad. Careful choice of cross-sectional wire profiles is shown to dramatically improve specularity of reflection close to the surface. Additionally, we find that the specularity depends on whether the number of wires in the mirror is even or odd, and that there exists an optimal turning height above the surface that maximizes the specularity of reflection from the mirror.