Influence of molecular temperature on the coherence of fullerenes in a near-field interferometer
- Author(s)
- Klaus Hornberger, Lucia Hackermüller, Markus Arndt
- Abstract
We study C70 fullerene matter waves in a Talbot-Lau interferometer as a function of their temperature. While the ideal fringe visibility is observed at moderate molecular temperatures, we find a gradual degradation of the interference contrast if the molecules are heated before entering the interferometer. A method is developed to assess the distribution of the microcanonical temperatures of the molecules in free flight. This way the heating-dependent reduction of interference contrast can be compared with the predictions of quantum theory. We find that the observed loss of coherence agrees quantitatively with the expected decoherence rate due to the thermal radiation emitted by the hot molecules. Π2005 The American Physical Society.
- Organisation(s)
- Journal
- Physical Review A
- Volume
- 71
- No. of pages
- 10
- ISSN
- 1050-2947
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.71.023601
- Publication date
- 2005
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 103026 Quantum optics
- Portal url
- https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/influence-of-molecular-temperature-on-the-coherence-of-fullerenes-in-a-nearfield-interferometer(d33841c3-a83d-4f98-963d-abfc269d63ee).html