Optical polarizabilities of large molecules measured in near-field interferometry

Author(s)
Lucia Hackermüller, Klaus Hornberger, Stefan Gerlich, Michael Gring, Hendrik Ulbricht, Markus Arndt
Abstract

We discuss a novel application of matter wave interferometry to characterize the scalar optical polarizability of molecules at 532 nm. The interferometer presented here consists of two material absorptive gratings and one central optical phase grating. The interaction of the molecules with the standing light wave is determined by the optical dipole force and is therefore directly dependent on the molecular polarizability at the wavelength of the diffracting laser light. By comparing the observed matter-wave interference contrast with a theoretical model for several intensities of the standing light wave and molecular velocities, we can infer the polarizability in this first proof-of-principle experiment for the fullerenes C(60) and C(70), and we find a good agreement with literature values.

Organisation(s)
Quantum Optics, Quantum Nanophysics and Quantum Information
External organisation(s)
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Journal
Applied Physics B: Lasers and Optics
Volume
89
Pages
469-473
No. of pages
5
ISSN
0946-2171
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-007-2873-6
Publication date
2007
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
103026 Quantum optics
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/optical-polarizabilities-of-large-molecules-measured-in-nearfield-interferometry(216f131e-95d4-440d-a7ef-a7ce4377e33d).html