FHI

Matter wave Optics

 In addition to the great impact on the progress of quantum mechanics at its early stage, Stern-Gerlachexperiment, the study on interaction of atoms with magnetic field, has lead to the invention of nuclear magnetic resonance and magnetic resonance imaging. As this classical example, the investigation of particle-field interaction has been beneficial to whole science area. Main topic of our group is experimental research and application of molecular interaction with various fields, such as nonresonant laser field and its combination with static electric field. The force imparted by the molecule-field interaction is exploited to spatially separate stereoisomers and their quantum states. Beside, in collaboration with Fritz Haber Institute in Berlin, grazing incidence atom optics is investigated.

 Molecule Optics: As a optical prism separates photons as their refractive indices, a molecule prism, which is made of nonresonant laser pulse, can separate molecules of different molecule refractive indices. As a proof-of-principle experiment, we separated benzene and NO molecules according to their polarizability to mass ratio, which is related to the molecule refractive index. Without laser both molecules are detected at the same position. However, with the molecule prism formed by the laser field, they were separated with a choromatographic resolution of 0.90. This can be beginning of a new separation method. In the future, the separation of different rotational states or streoisomers will be pursued.