Bonn 2025 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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A: Fachverband Atomphysik

A 28: Cluster and Nanoparticles I (joint session MO/A)

A 28.6: Vortrag

Donnerstag, 13. März 2025, 12:30–12:45, HS XV

Cluster beam technologies for matter-wave interferometry — •Severin Sindelar, Bruno Ramirez-Galindo, Sebastian Pedalino, Stefan Gerlich, and Markus Arndt — University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Vienna

Metal nanoparticles are promising candidates for interferometric tests of the quantum superposition principle in the 1 MDa mass range. Cluster interferometry shall allow us to push the limit on quantum macroscopicity well beyond the state of the art and it shall open a window for quantum-enhanced measurements of properties of nanoscale materials.

The cluster beam shall last for a day, have a high brilliance of slow and neutral metal nanoparticles with masses up to 1 MDa and velocities below 30 m/s. The materials must have a work function compatible with single photon ionization using deep ultraviolet (DUV) laser light, ideally high polarizability and low magnetic susceptibility. Here we present our approach to such a cluster source: It is based on metal evaporation and cluster aggregation in an 80 K cold chamber, followed by an aerodynamic lens array.

While interference experiments shall work with neutral clusters, their identification and detection require singly charged particles, which we can select in a quadrupole mass spectrometer with subsequent Daly detection. We present the formation, ionization and spectroscopy of metal clusters, which have a low work function, high absorption cross section and high polarizability. We study their photo physics as a function of size, DUV laser wavelength and laser power to extract the properties that will be needed for interference experiments.

Keywords: Metal Clusters; Matter waves; Interferometry; Nanoparticles; Source