Poisson's spot with molecules

• Main Authors: Reisinger, Thomas (Author), Patel, Amil Ashok (Contributor), Reingruber, Herbert (Author), Fladischer, Katrin (Author), Ernst, Wolfgang E. (Author), Bracco, Gianangelo (Author), Smith, Henry Ignatius (Contributor), Holst, Bodil (Author)
• Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Contributor), Smith , Henry Ignatius (Contributor)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Physical Society, 2010-02-03T13:51:08Z.
• Subjects: Article
• Online Access: Get fulltext

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.
Bergen Research Foundation
NEST-Adventure
European Union FP6