2007/01/25 by Martin Berninger, André Stefanov, Sarayut Deachapunya +1 · 83 citations
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Field (mathematics) #Interferometry #Mathematics #Matter wave #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #Molecule #Optics #Physics #Polarizability #Quantum mechanics #Strong Light-Matter Interactions #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreva.76.013607
published in Physical Review A 76(1) (American Physical Society) · 4 pages, 4 figures
arxiv created 2007/01/25 · openalex publication_date 2007/07/09 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We present a method for measuring the scalar polarizability of molecules by means of near-field matter-wave interferometry. This technique is applicable to a wide range of complex neutral molecules. A key feature of our experiment is the combination of good transmission and high spatial resolution, gained by imprinting a submicrometer spatial modulation onto a wide molecular beam. Our method significantly improves the measurement sensitivity of the polarizability-dependent shifts. We have successfully performed measurements on fullerenes and report the polarizability to be \ensuremathα=88.9\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi0.9\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi5.1\phantom\rule0.3em0ex\mathrm\AA3 for C60 and \ensuremathα=108.5\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi2.0\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi6.2\phantom\rule0.3em0ex\mathrm\AA3 for C70.