Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Rep Prog Phys. 2013 Aug;76(8):086402. doi: 10.1088/0034-4885/76/8/086402. Epub 2013 Aug 2.
We describe the state of the art in preparing, manipulating and detecting coherent molecular matter. We focus on experimental methods for handling the quantum motion of compound systems from diatomic molecules to clusters or biomolecules.Molecular quantum optics offers many challenges and innovative prospects: already the combination of two atoms into one molecule takes several well-established methods from atomic physics, such as for instance laser cooling, to their limits. The enormous internal complexity that arises when hundreds or thousands of atoms are bound in a single organic molecule, cluster or nanocrystal provides a richness that can only be tackled by combining methods from atomic physics, chemistry, cluster physics, nanotechnology and the life sciences.We review various molecular beam sources and their suitability for matter-wave experiments. We discuss numerous molecular detection schemes and give an overview over diffraction and interference experiments that have already been performed with molecules or clusters.Applications of de Broglie studies with composite systems range from fundamental tests of physics up to quantum-enhanced metrology in physical chemistry, biophysics and the surface sciences.Nanoparticle quantum optics is a growing field, which will intrigue researchers still for many years to come. This review can, therefore, only be a snapshot of a very dynamical process.
我们描述了制备、操纵和检测相干分子物质的最新技术。我们专注于处理从双原子分子到团簇或生物分子的复合系统量子运动的实验方法。分子量子光学带来了许多挑战和创新前景：将两个原子组合成一个分子，就需要将几种成熟的原子物理方法（例如激光冷却）发挥到极限。当数百或数千个原子结合在单个有机分子、团簇或纳米晶体中时，会产生巨大的内部复杂性，只有结合原子物理、化学、团簇物理、纳米技术和生命科学的方法，才能解决这一复杂性。我们回顾了各种分子束源及其在物质波实验中的适用性。我们讨论了许多分子检测方案，并概述了已经用分子或团簇进行的衍射和干涉实验。使用复合系统进行德布罗意研究的应用范围从物理的基本测试到物理化学、生物物理和表面科学中的量子增强计量学。纳米颗粒量子光学是一个不断发展的领域，在未来的许多年里仍将吸引研究人员。因此，本综述只能是一个非常动态过程的快照。
