Related papers: Matter-wave interferometry with composite quantum …
Research on matter waves is a thriving field of quantum physics and has recently stimulated many investigations with electrons, neutrons, atoms, Bose-condensed ensembles, cold clusters and hot molecules. Coherence experiments with complex…
Starting from an elementary model and refining it to take into account more realistic effects, we discuss the limitations and advantages of matter-wave interferometry in different configurations. We focus on the possibility to apply this…
We discuss the concept of an all-optical and ionizing matter-wave interferometer in the time domain. The proposed setup aims at testing the wave nature of highly massive clusters and molecules, and it will enable new precision experiments…
We review recent progress and future prospects of matter wave interferometry with complex organic molecules and inorganic clusters. Three variants of a near-field interference effect, based on diffraction by material nanostructures, at…
These lecture notes emerged from a contribution to the "Les Houches Summer School, Session CVII - Current Trends in Atomic Physics, July 2016". It is meant to serve students as a guide to a selection of topics that are currently at the…
Recent progress in matter-wave interferometry aims to directly probe the quantum properties of matter on ever increasing scales. However, in order to perform interferometric experiments with massive mesoscopic objects, taking into account…
Kapitza-Dirac-Talbot-Lau interferometry (KDTLI) has recently been established for demonstrating the quantum wave nature of large molecules. A phase space treatment permits us to derive closed equations for the near-field interference…
Matter-wave interferometry with atoms and molecules has attracted a rapidly growing interest over the past two decades, both in demonstrations of fundamental quantum phenomena and in quantum-enhanced precision measurements. Such experiments…
We combine matter-wave interferometry and cavity optomechanics to propose a coherent matter--light interface based on mechanical motion at the quantum level. We demonstrate a mechanism that is able to transfer non-classical features…
Matter-wave interferometry with increasingly larger masses could pave the way to understanding the nature of wavefunction collapse, the quantum to classical transition or even how an object in a spatial superposition interacts with its…
Optics and interferometry with matter waves is the art of coherently manipulating the translational motion of particles like neutrons, atoms and molecules. Coherent atom optics is an extension of techniques that were developed for…
Matter-wave interferometry performed with massive objects elucidates their wave nature and thus tests the quantum superposition principle at large scales. Whereas standard quantum theory places no limit on particle size, alternative, yet…
We study in detail a peculiar configuration of the Talbot-Lau matter wave interferometer, characterised by unequal distances between the two diffraction gratings and the observation plane. We refer to this apparatus as the "asymmetric…
Interference with atomic and molecular matter waves is a rich branch of atomic physics and quantum optics. It started with atom diffraction from crystal surfaces and the separated oscillatory fields technique used in atomic clocks. Atom…
Non-classical states of light find applications in enhancing the performance of optical interferometric experiments, with notable example of gravitational wave-detectors. Still, the presence of decoherence hinders significantly the…
We demonstrate a near-field Talbot-Lau interferometer for C-70 fullerene molecules. Such interferometers are particularly suitable for larger masses. Using three free-standing gold gratings of one micrometer period and a transversally…
Matter-wave interferometry with molecules is intriguing both because it demonstrates a fundamental quantum phenomenon and because it opens avenues to quantum-enhanced measurements in physical chemistry. One great challenge in such…
This chapter reviews recent experiments on matter wave interferometry with large molecules. Starting from an elementary introduction to matter wave physics we discuss far-field diffraction and near-field interferometry with thermally…
Quantum superposition is central to quantum theory but challenges our concepts of reality and spacetime when applied to macroscopic objects like Schr\"odinger's cat. For that reason, it has been a long-standing question whether quantum…
Imaging of surface adsorbed molecules is investigated as a novel detection method for matter wave interferometry with fluorescent particles. Mechanically magnified fluorescence imaging turns out to be an excellent tool for recording quantum…