Quantum interference of large organic molecules

Stefan Gerlich, Sandra Eibenberger, Mathias Tomandl, Stefan Nimmrichter, Klaus Hornberger, Paul J. Fagan, Jens Tüxen, Marcel Mayor and Markus Arndt ()
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Stefan Gerlich: University of Vienna, Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology, VCQ, Faculty of Physics
Sandra Eibenberger: University of Vienna, Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology, VCQ, Faculty of Physics
Mathias Tomandl: University of Vienna, Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology, VCQ, Faculty of Physics
Stefan Nimmrichter: University of Vienna, Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology, VCQ, Faculty of Physics
Klaus Hornberger: Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems
Paul J. Fagan: E. I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. Inc., Experimental Station
Jens Tüxen: University of Basel
Marcel Mayor: University of Basel
Markus Arndt: University of Vienna, Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology, VCQ, Faculty of Physics

Nature Communications, 2011, vol. 2, issue 1, 1-5

Abstract: Abstract The wave nature of matter is a key ingredient of quantum physics and yet it defies our classical intuition. First proposed by Louis de Broglie a century ago, it has since been confirmed with a variety of particles from electrons up to molecules. Here we demonstrate new high-contrast quantum experiments with large and massive tailor-made organic molecules in a near-field interferometer. Our experiments prove the quantum wave nature and delocalization of compounds composed of up to 430 atoms, with a maximal size of up to 60 Å, masses up to m=6,910 AMU and de Broglie wavelengths down to λdB=h/mv≃1 pm. We show that even complex systems, with more than 1,000 internal degrees of freedom, can be prepared in quantum states that are sufficiently well isolated from their environment to avoid decoherence and to show almost perfect coherence.

Date: 2011
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1263

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