Poisson’s spot with molecules

In the Poisson-spot experiment, waves emanating from a source are blocked by a circular obstacle. Due to their positive on-axis interference an image of the source the Poisson spot is observed within the geometrical shadow of the obstacle. In this paper we report the observation of Poisson’s spot us...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Free-standing, axially-symmetric diffraction gratings for neutral matter-waves: experiments and fabrication axially-symmetric diffraction gratings for neutral matter-waves: experiments and fabrication, 2009
Main Authors: Reisinger, Thomas, Patel, Amil A, Reingruber, Herbert, Fladischer, Katrin, Ernst, Wolfgang E, Bracco, Gianangelo, Smith, Henry I, Holst, Bodil
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Request full text
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Summary:In the Poisson-spot experiment, waves emanating from a source are blocked by a circular obstacle. Due to their positive on-axis interference an image of the source the Poisson spot is observed within the geometrical shadow of the obstacle. In this paper we report the observation of Poisson’s spot using a beam of neutral deuterium molecules. The wavelength independence and the weak constraints on angular alignment and position of the circular obstacle make Poisson’s spot a promising candidate for applications ranging from the study of large molecule diffraction to patterning with molecules.