Time-resolved diffraction and interference: Young's interference with photons of different energy as revealed by time resolution.
We present time-resolved diffraction and two-slit interference experiments using a streak camera as a detector for femtosecond pulses of photons. These experiments show how the diffraction pattern is built by adding frames of a few photons to each frame. It is estimated that after 300 photons the diffraction pattern emerges. With time resolution we can check the speed of light and put an upper limit of 2 ps at our resolution to the time for wave function collapse in the quantum measurement process. We then produce interference experiments with photons of different energies impinging on the slits, i.e. we know which photon impinges on each slit. We show that for poor time resolution, no interference is observed, but for high time resolution, we have interference that is revealed as beats of 100 GHz frequency. The condition for interference is that the two pulses should overlap spatially at the detector, even if the pulses have different energies but are generated from the same pulse of the laser. The interference seems to be in agreement with classical theory at first sight. However, closer study and analysis of the data show deviations in the visibility of the interference fringes and of their phase. These experiments are discussed in connection with quantum mechanics and it may be concluded that the time resolution provides new data for understanding the longstanding and continuing arguments on wave-particle duality initiated by Newton, Young, Fresnel, Planck and others. A thought experiment is presented in the appendix to try to distinguish the photons at the detector by making it sensitive to colour.
Garcia
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N
Laboratorio de Física de Sistemas Pequeños y Nanotecnología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Serrano 144, E-28006 Madrid, Spain.
Saveliev
I G
IG
Sharonov
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M
D004735:Energy Transfer; D004867:Equipment Design; D007368:Interferometry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D007834:Lasers; D055095:Optics and Photonics / Q000295:instrumentation; D017785:Photons; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D013057:Spectrum Analysis / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*