Evidence of wave-particle duality for single fast hydrogen atoms

We report the direct observation of interference effects in a Young's double-slit experiment where the interfering waves are two spatially separated components of the de Broglie wave of single 1.3 MeV hydrogen atoms formed close to either target nucleus in H++H2 electron-transfer collisions. Qu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2008-08, Vol.101 (8), p.083201-083201, Article 083201
Main Authors: Schmidt, H T, Fischer, D, Berenyi, Z, Cocke, C L, Gudmundsson, M, Haag, N, Johansson, H A B, Källberg, A, Levin, S B, Reinhed, P, Sassenberg, U, Schuch, R, Simonsson, A, Støchkel, K, Cederquist, H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atom- och molekylfysik
Atomic and molecular physics
Fysik
NATURAL SCIENCES
NATURVETENSKAP
Physics
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Summary:We report the direct observation of interference effects in a Young's double-slit experiment where the interfering waves are two spatially separated components of the de Broglie wave of single 1.3 MeV hydrogen atoms formed close to either target nucleus in H++H2 electron-transfer collisions. Quantum interference strongly influences the results even though the hydrogen atoms have a de Broglie wavelength, lambda_{dB}, as small as 25 fm.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.083201