Heidelberg 2015 – scientific programme

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 62: Poster: Quantum Optics and Photonics III

Q 62.39: Poster

Thursday, March 26, 2015, 17:00–19:00, C/Foyer

A bottom-up approach to Poisson spot experiments with neutral matter-waves — •Thomas Reisinger, Arne Fischer, Christian Reitz, Herbert Gleiter, and Horst Hahn — Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany

Poisson's spot refers to the positive on-axis interference of waves in the circular shadow of a disc or sphere. Its intensity strongly depends on the surface corrugation of the diffraction object, especially in experiments characterized by a Fresnel number greater than one. Due to the small de-Broglie wavelength commonly involved (of the order of a few picometer), neutral matter-wave diffraction experiments often belong to this category.

For this reason we have developed a technique to perform Poisson spot experiments using spherical sub-micron silicon-dioxide particles as diffraction objects. They were prepared following a bottom-up approach, namely the Stoeber process, which results in particularly low surface corrugation of the particles - potentially lower than gratings prepared with common top-down lithography techniques. We evaluate the prospect of performing Poisson spot experiments with more massive and complex matter-waves using this approach. Furthermore, since the intensity of Poisson's spot is a sensitive probe for forces between matter-wave and the diffraction object, we expect the experiments to yield data that can be used to verify models describing the Casimir-Polder potential.