We show that internal state transitions may induce energy transfer among different directions of motion and lead efficiently to large scattering angles in atomic reflection from evanescent-wave mirrors. The proposed scattering mechanism is reminiscent of the so-called Sisyphus effect of laser cooling. Perturbative calculations are presented and discussed for the diffraction of atomic beams at grazing incidence on evanescent fields with polarization gradients and for the reflection of atoms by a rough mirror.

• Received 14 January 1997

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.56.R9