title: Coherence in the presence of absorption and heating in a molecule interferometer.
abstract: Matter-wave interferometry can be used to probe the foundations of physics and to enable precise measurements of particle properties and fundamental constants. It relies on beam splitters that coherently divide the wave function. In atom interferometers, such elements are often realised using lasers by exploiting the dipole interaction or through photon absorption. It is intriguing to extend these ideas to complex molecules where the energy of an absorbed photon can rapidly be redistributed across many internal degrees of freedom. Here, we provide evidence that center-of-mass coherence can be maintained even when the internal energy and entropy of the interfering particle are substantially increased by absorption of photons from a standing light wave. Each photon correlates the molecular center-of-mass wave function with its internal temperature and splits it into a superposition with opposite momenta in addition to the beam-splitting action of the optical dipole potential.
authors.affiliation: University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, VCQ &QuNaBioS, Boltzmanngasse 5, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Cotter
authors.affiliation: University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, VCQ &QuNaBioS, Boltzmanngasse 5, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eibenberger
authors.affiliation: University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, VCQ &QuNaBioS, Boltzmanngasse 5, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mairhofer
authors.affiliation: University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, VCQ &QuNaBioS, Boltzmanngasse 5, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, VCQ &QuNaBioS, Boltzmanngasse 5, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Asenbaum
authors.affiliation: University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, VCQ &QuNaBioS, Boltzmanngasse 5, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arndt
authors.affiliation: University of Duisburg-Essen, Faculty of Physics, Lotharstraße 1-21, 47048 Duisburg, Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Walter
authors.affiliation: University of Duisburg-Essen, Faculty of Physics, Lotharstraße 1-21, 47048 Duisburg, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nimmrichter
authors.affiliation: University of Duisburg-Essen, Faculty of Physics, Lotharstraße 1-21, 47048 Duisburg, Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.identifier: 0000000231451117
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hornberger