EQuAL Seminar: Sebastian Pedalino

Matter-wave Interference of Molecules and Nanoparticles

The transition from quantum phenomena to classical observations is still at the heart of ongoing debates on the foundations of physics. Exploring the interface between quantum mechanics and classical phenomena is therefore an important contribution to the understanding of modern physics. Matter-wave interferometry with massive objects serves as a key experimental approach, providing insights into how quantum behavior persists in macroscopic systems and connects to the classical realm. The Long-Baseline Universal Matter-wave Interferometer (LUMI) in Vienna is a three grating Talbot-Lau interferometer, which is capable of superposing atoms as well as massive molecules. Interference of molecules consisting of up to 2000 atoms and with masses up to 28.000 amu has been demonstrated in the LUMI experiment. The high sensitivity of the interference fringes allows for the precise measurement of molecular and atomic properties such as magnetic, electric, or optical properties. The new version of LUMI combines 133 nm depletion gratings in a Talbot-Lau configuration with a metal cluster aggregation source. These upgrades allow us to observe interference of nanoparticles with masses up to 10^6 amu, pushing the limits of quantum physics further towards macroscopic scale.

Guest speaker Sebastian Pedalino is a Ph.D. student at the University of Vienna in the quantum nanophysics research group of Prof. Markus Arndt. During his undergraduate studies, he focused on molecular beam methods and matter-wave interference experiments. For his Ph.D., his research centers on developing a new matter-wave interferometer for metal nanoparticles, aiming to push the boundaries of quantum macroscopicity by exploring new regimes of mass and material.