High-order Talbot fringes for atomic matter waves

We observe the interference of de Broglie waves in the diffraction near field of a microfabricated grating. The reduction of the grating period by self-imaging of second to seventh order is spatially resolved. We investigate the dependence of this effect on the de Broglie wavelength by a time-to-flight technique.     

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. Quantum interference strongly influences the results even though the hydrogen atoms have a de Broglie wavelength, lambda_{dB}, as small as 25 fm.     

Energy Spectrum of Electrons of Deep Impurity Centers in Wide-Bandgap Mesoscopic Semiconductors

JETP Letters - The energy spectrum of deep impurity centers in wide-bandgap semiconductors (Eg > 2 eV) of mesoscopic sizes R ⪢ λD, where λD is the de Broglie wavelength, at...     

De Broglie waves and the nature of mass

In this paper an attempt is made to interpret inertial mass as a consequence of the invariant periodicity associated with physical de Broglie waves. In the case of a free particle, such waves, observed from an arbitrary reference frame, would exhibit the velocity-dependent wavelength given by de Broglie's relation; and it is conjectured that the inertial and additive properties of mass (or, more precisely, the conservation of momentum and energy) can be related to nonlinear interference effects occurring between the de Broglie waves for different particles. This picture could throw light on the physical meaning of quantization and suggests the possibility of reformulating classical and quantum mechanics in terms of a quasi-classical nonlinear field theory in which both inertial and quantization effects result essentially from the periodicity of de Broglie waves.     

Wave nature of biomolecules and fluorofullerenes

We demonstrate quantum interference for tetraphenylporphyrin, the first biomolecule exhibiting wave nature, and for the fluorofullerene C60F48 using a near-field Talbot-Lau interferometer. For the porphyrins, which are distinguished by their low symmetry and their abundant occurrence in organic systems, we find the theoretically expected maximal interference contrast and its expected dependence on the de Broglie wavelength. For C60F48, the observed fringe visibility is below the expected value, but the high contrast still provides good evidence for the quantum character of the observed fringe pattern. The fluorofullerenes therefore set the new mark in complexity and mass (1632 amu) for de Broglie wave experiments, exceeding the previous mass record by a factor of 2.     

Relativistic kinetic theory of quantum systems: II. Neutrino-antineutrino system

It is shown that the macroscopic current density and energy-momentum density of a neutrino-antineutrino system may be expressed in terms of moments of two scalar Wigner functions, provided that the system is homogeneous on the scale of the de Broglie wavelength of the particles. The equilibrium form of these Wigner functions is established.     

Quantum effects on electron-proton bremsstrahlung spectrum in a two-component plasma

The electron-proton low energy bremsstrahlung process is investigated in a two-component plasma. The corrected Kelbg potential taking into account the quantum effects is applied to describe the electron-proton interaction potential in a two-component plasma. The straight-line trajectory method is applied to the motion of the projectile electron in order to investigate the variation of the bremsstrahlung cross-section as a function of the scaled impact parameter, thermal de Broglie wavelength, projectile energy, and photon energy. The results show that the quantum-mechanical effects decrease the bremsstrahlung cross-sections when the de Broglie wavelength (λ) is greater than the Bohr radius (a₀). It is also found that the quantum effects are important only for the region of impact parameters b < 3a ₀. Received 13 March 2001     

Observation of atom wave phase shifts induced by van der Waals atom-surface interactions

The development of nanotechnology and atom optics relies on understanding how atoms behave and interact with their environment. Isolated atoms can exhibit wavelike (coherent) behavior with a corresponding de Broglie wavelength and phase which can be affected by nearby surfaces. Here an atom interferometer is used to measure the phase shift of Na atom waves induced by the walls of a 50 nm wide cavity. To our knowledge this is the first direct measurement of the de Broglie wave phase shift caused by atom-surface interactions. The magnitude of the phase shift is in agreement with that predicted by Lifshitz theory for a nonretarded van der Waals interaction. This experiment also demonstrates that atom waves can retain their coherence even when atom-surface distances are as small as 10 nm.     

On negative refraction in electron optics

Negative refraction is investigated within the context of both relativistic and non-relativistic electron optics. In fact, starting from the de Broglie wave-particle dualism, the negative refractive index as a function of wavelength is determined for both relativistic and non-relativistic electrons. Comparison with photon optics is done. Negative refractive index averaged over both sufficiently small and sufficiently large wavelength ranges is found to be tending to minus unity and minus infinity, respectively. In addition, the sensitivity to wavelength of the negative refractive index is evaluated.     

Four-photon interference with asymmetric beam splitters

Two experiments of four-photon interference are performed with two pairs of photons from parametric downconversion with the help of asymmetric beam splitters. The first experiment is a generalization of the Hong-Ou-Mandel interference effect to two pairs of photons while the second one utilizes this effect to demonstrate a four-photon de Broglie wavelength of lambda/4 by projection measurement.     

A scheme for demonstration of four-photon de Broglie wavelength

We propose a scheme to effectively generate a four-photon path-entangled number state [the NOON state i.e. 1/√2（｜N,0〉 ＋ ｜0, N〉）] for the demonstration of four-photon de Broglie wavelength. Our scheme rcquires only linear optical elements, photon detectors and post-selections which are all within the reach of current technology.     

Observation of two-photon coherence in plasmon-assisted transmission

We experimentally study two-photon coherence in plasmon-assisted transmission with a two-photon Mach–Zehnder (MZ) interferometer. Two collinear photons of identical or orthogonal polarization are simultaneously incident on one optically thick metal film, perforated with a periodic array of subwavelength holes. Interference fringes with two-photon de Broglie wavelength are observed, which indicates that the quantum coherence of biphoton is preserved in surface plasmon assisted transmission.     

Quantum scattering of fast atoms and molecules on surfaces

We present evidence for the diffraction of light keV atoms and molecules grazingly scattered on LiF(001) and NaCl(001) surfaces. At such energies, the de Broglie wavelength is 2 orders of magnitude smaller that the mean thermal atomic displacement in the crystal. Thus, no coherent scattering was expected and interaction of keV atoms with surfaces is routinely treated with classical mechanics. We show here that well-defined diffraction patterns can be observed indicating that, for grazing scattering, the pertinent wavelength is that associated with the slow motion perpendicular to the surface. The experimental data are well reproduced by an ab initio calculation.     

Release of the Joule heat upon passage of the electric current in nanostructures (a review)

The generation of the Joule heat upon collisionless passage of the direct and alternating electric currents in semiconductor quantum wires connecting two classical reservoirs has been discussed. The transverse dimension of the quantum wire is of the order of the de Broglie wavelength of conduction electrons. The spatial distribution of the Joule heat has been considered. The heat is released in the reservoirs at a distance of the electron mean free path. The total production of the Joule heat has been found to be identical in both reservoirs.     

Classical tunneling

A classical representation of an extended body over barriers of height greater than the energy of the incident body is shown to have many features in common with quantum tunneling as the center-of-mass literally goes through the barrier. It is even classically possible to penetrate any finite barrier with a body of arbitrarily low energy if the body is sufficiently long. A distribution of body lengths around the de Broglie wavelength leads to reasonable agreement with the quantum transmission coefficient.     

Electron capture processes in strongly coupled semiclassical plasmas

The electron captures by projectile ions from hydrogenic ions are investigated in strongly coupled semiclassical plasmas. The electron capture radius by the projectile ion is obtained by the effective screened pseudopotential model taking into account both the plasma screening and quantum effects. The semiclassical version of the Bohr-Lindhard method is applied to obtain the electron capture probability. The impact-parameter trajectory analysis is applied to the motion of the projectile ion in order to visualize the electron capture radius and capture probability as functions of the impact parameter, thermal de Broglie wavelength and Debye length. The results show that the quantum and plasma screening effects significantly reduce the electron capture probability and the capture radius. It is found that the electron capture position is shifted to the core of the projectile ion with increasing the thermal de Broglie wavelength. It is also found that the quantum effects on the electron capture probability are more significant than the collective screening effects on the electron capture probability. The electron capture probability is found to be significantly increased with an increase of the charge.Received: 27 June 2003PACS: 52.20.-j Elementary processes in plasmasYoung-Dae Jung: Permanent address: Department of Physics, Hanyang University, Ansan, Kyunggi-Do 425-791, South Korea, yjung@bohr.hanyang.ac.kr     

Coherence length of excitons in a semiconductor quantum well

We report on the first experimental determination of the coherence length of excitons in semiconductors using the combination of spatially resolved photoluminescence with phonon sideband spectroscopy. The coherence length of excitons in ZnSe quantum wells is determined to be 300-400 nm, about 25-30 times the exciton de Broglie wavelength. With increasing exciton kinetic energy, the coherence length decreases slowly. The discrepancy between the coherence lengths measured and calculated by considering only the acoustic-phonon scattering suggests an important influence of static disorder.     

Quantumlike dynamics of classical particles in ponderomotive potentials

The average dynamics of a classical particle under the action of a high-frequency radiation resembles quantum particle motion in a conservative field with an effective de Broglie wavelength lambda equal to the particle average displacement on the oscillation period. In a quasiclassical field, with a spatial scale large compared to lambda, the guiding-center motion is adiabatic. Otherwise, a particle exhibits quantized eigenstates in ponderomotive potential wells, tunnels through "classically forbidden" regions, and experiences stochastic reflection from attractive potentials.     

Guided quasicontinuous atom laser

We report the first realization of a guided quasicontinuous atom laser by rf outcoupling a Bose-Einstein condensate from a hybrid optomagnetic trap into a horizontal atomic waveguide. This configuration allows us to cancel the acceleration due to gravity and keep the de Broglie wavelength constant at 0.5 microm during 0.1 s of propagation. We also show that our configuration, equivalent to pigtailing an optical fiber to a (photon) semiconductor laser, ensures an intrinsically good transverse mode matching.     

Controlling two-center interference in molecular high harmonic generation

We experimentally investigate the process of intramolecular quantum interference in high-order harmonic generation in impulsively aligned CO2 molecules. The recombination interference effect is clearly seen through the order dependence of the harmonic yield in an aligned sample. The experimental results can be well modeled assuming that the effective de Broglie wavelength of the returning electron wave is not significantly altered by the Coulomb field of the molecular ion. We demonstrate that such interference effects can be effectively controlled by changing the ellipticity of the driving laser field.