  In a retroreflective scheme atomic Raman diffraction adopts some of the
properties of Bragg diffraction due to additional couplings to off-resonant
momenta. As a consequence, double Raman diffraction has to be performed in a
Bragg-type regime. Taking advantage of this regime, double Raman allows for
resonant higher-order diffraction. We study theoretically the case of
third-order diffraction and compare it to first order as well as a sequence of
first-order pulses giving rise to the same momentum transfer as the third-order
pulse. In fact, third-order diffraction constitutes a competitive tool for the
diffraction of ultracold atoms and interferometry based on large momentum
transfer since it allows to reduce the complexity of the experiment as well as
the total duration of the diffraction process compared to a sequence.
