Coherence in the presence of absorption and heating in a molecule interferometer

Autor(en)

J. P. Cotter, S. Eibenberger, L. Mairhofer, X. Cheng, P. Asenbaum, M. Arndt, K. Walter, S. Nimmrichter, K. Hornberger

Abstrakt

Matter-wave interferometry can be used to probe the foundations of physics and to enable precise measurements of particle properties and fundamental constants. It relies on beam splitters that coherently divide the wave function. In atom interferometers, such elements are often realised using lasers by exploiting the dipole interaction or through photon absorption. It is intriguing to extend these ideas to complex molecules where the energy of an absorbed photon can rapidly be redistributed across many internal degrees of freedom. Here, we provide evidence that center-of-mass coherence can be maintained even when the internal energy and entropy of the interfering particle are substantially increased by absorption of photons from a standing light wave. Each photon correlates the molecular center-of-mass wave function with its internal temperature and splits it into a superposition with opposite momenta in addition to the beam-splitting action of the optical dipole potential.

Organisation(en)

Quantenoptik, Quantennanophysik und Quanteninformation

Externe Organisation(en)

Universität Duisburg-Essen

Journal

Nature Communications

Band

6

Anzahl der Seiten

7

ISSN

2041-1723

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8336

Publikationsdatum

06-2015

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

103026 Quantenoptik

Schlagwörter

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

General, Allgemeine Physik und Astronomie, Allgemeine Chemie, Allgemeine Biochemie, Genetik und Molekularbiologie

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/c14db644-e0d8-48ab-977a-18bf1d371092