On the prospects of interferometry and deflectometry for characterizing large molecules

We investigate the prospects of near-field matter-wave interferometry for the sensitive determination of molecular properties, such as electric polarizabilities, electric and magnetic dipole moments or even life-times of some molecular states. We discuss how important principles of our present quantum experiments can be transferred to the classical regime, i.e. to a Moiré deflectometer in order to also measure characteristic properties of large clusters and biomolecules

Slow beams of massive molecules

Slow beams of neutral molecules are of great interest for a wide range of applications, from cold chemistry through precision measurements to tests of the foundations of quantum mechanics. We report on the quantitative observation of thermal beams of perfluorinated macromolecules with masses up to 6000?amu, reaching velocities down to 11?m/s. Such slow, heavy and neutral molecular beams are of importance for a new class of experiments in matter-wave interferometry and we also discuss the requirements for further manipulation and cooling schemes with molecules in this unprecedented mass range. <br/

Slow beams of massive molecules

Slow beams of neutral molecules are of great interest for a wide range of applications, from cold chemistry through precision measurements to tests of the foundations of quantum mechanics. We report on the quantitative observation of thermal beams of perfluorinated macromolecules with masses up to 6000?amu, reaching velocities down to 11?m/s. Such slow, heavy and neutral molecular beams are of importance for a new class of experiments in matter-wave interferometry and we also discuss the requirements for further manipulation and cooling schemes with molecules in this unprecedented mass range.Kavli Institute of NanoscienceApplied Science

Gas phase sorting of fullerenes, polypeptides and carbon nanotubes

We discuss the Stark deflectometry of micro-modulated molecular beams for the enrichment of biomolecular isomers as well as single-wall carbon nanotubes, and we demonstrate the working principle of this idea with fullerenes. The sorting is based on the species-dependent susceptibility-to-mass ratio ?/m. The device is compatible with a high molecular throughput, and the spatial micro-modulation of the beam permits one to obtain a fine spatial resolution and a high sorting sensitivity

Taming molecular beams

Contains fulltext : 98803.pdf (preprint version ) (Open Access

A Vlasov approach to bunching and selfordering of particles in optical resonators

We develop a Vlasov type continuum density description for the coupled nonlinear dynamics of polarizable particles moving in the light field of a high Q optical resonator. The intracavity light field, which exerts optical forces on the particles, depends itself on the dynamics of the particle density, which constitutes a time dependent refractive index. This induces mode frequency shifts, losses and coupling. For typical geometries we find solid analytic criteria for the stability of an initial homogeneous particle density for a wide class of initial velocity distributions including thermal distributions. These agree with previously found bunching and self-ordering instabilities but are extended to a wider range of parameters and initial conditions. Using a linear perturbation expansion we calculate the growth exponents of small density perturbations in the parameter region beyond this instability threshold. Numerical solutions of the full equations as well as simulations of the underlying many particle trajectories confirm these results. In addition the equations allow to extract analytical scaling laws to extrapolate cavity cooling and selfordering dynamics to higher particle numbers