Interferometry and Dissipative Optics with Atoms

We have designed a gravitational cavity for ultra-cold atoms using an atomic mirror made from an evanescent laser wave. By a temporal variation of the evanescent wave intensity, we have realized various atom optics components such as temporal slits and phase modulators. We have also designed an atom interferometer using this cavity which proves that the coherence of the de Broglie waves can be preserved during the bounce of the atoms on the mirror. Finally we show that an efficient cooling of the atoms inside the cavity can be achieved using a Sisyphus process during the bounce.