Polarizability measurements of a molecule via a near-field matter-wave interferometer

Abstract

We present a method for measuring the scalar polarizability of molecules by means of near-field matter-wave interferometry. This technique is applicable to a wide range of complex neutral molecules. A key feature of our experiment is the combination of good transmission and high spatial resolution, gained by imprinting a submicrometer spatial modulation onto a wide molecular beam. Our method significantly improves the measurement sensitivity of the polarizability-dependent shifts. We have successfully performed measurements on fullerenes and report the polarizability to be $\ensuremath{\alpha}=88.9\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.9\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}5.1\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{\AA{}}}^{3}$ for ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ and $\ensuremath{\alpha}=108.5\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2.0\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}6.2\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{\AA{}}}^{3}$ for ${\mathrm{C}}_{70}$.