Christian Brand, Diffraction of atomic matter waves through matter

Diffraction of atomic matter waves through matter

Techniques based on the interference of electrons and neutrons are standard tools in condensed-matter research, providing information on structures and functionalities. Comparable studies using atoms focus on surface properties as diffraction through materials has been restricted to sub-atomic particles until now (1, 2). In this talk, we present first results demonstrating diffraction of atoms through a pristine material, in our case free-standing single-layer graphene (3). Although the kinetic energy of the atoms in the kilo-electron volt regime leads to significant couplings to the electronic system of graphene, coherent scattering of up to eight reciprocal lattice vectors can be observed. This demonstration mirrors the first transmission experiments with electrons by Thomson (4), providing new opportunities for atom diffraction. We expect our findings to inspire studies in fundamental and applied physics as well as materials research.

1. D. Farias, K.-H. Rieder, Atomic beam diffraction from solid surfaces. Reports on Progress in Physics 61, 1575 (1998).

2. G. Bracco, B. Holst, Surface Science Techniques. Springer Series in Surface Science (Springer Berlin, Heidelberg, ed. 1, 2013), pp. 663.

3. C. Kanitz et al., Diffraction of atomic matter waves through a 2D crystal. arXiv, 2412.02360 (2024).

4. G. P. Thomson, The diffraction of cathode rays by thin films of platinum. Nature 120, 802-802 (1927).