Abstract – Markus Arndt

April 1, 2019 11:23 am Published by

Matter-wave experiments with biomolecular nanomatter

Markus Arndt for QNP@UNIVIE

University of Vienna, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Wien, Austria

Matter-wave interferometry with biological nanomatter [1,2] explores the frontier between quantum physics, biochemistry, nanotechnology, asking how biological structure affects quantum-delocalization and if biology can provide natural nanotechnology for quantum experiments [3]. We ask what needs to be done to prepare, diffract, interfere and detect intact neutral vitamins, antibiotics, polypeptides or proteins [3-5]?  Answers to these questions open the path for quantum interference as a metrological tool, where the emerging density fringe pattern serves as a nanoruler that can be read with high precision and a force sensitivity < 10-26 N. Optical phase and photo-depletion beam splitters allow us addressing a plethora of organic particles in a universal way. This enables measurements of electronic [6], optical [7-9] or dynamical [10] molecular properties.

 

References

  1. M. Arndt,  De Broglie’s meter stick: Making measurements with matter waves, Phys. Today 67, 30 (2014).
  2. J. Schätti, et al.,  Bio-inspired neutral nanoparticle beams, (2018).
  3. J. Schätti, et al.,  Tailoring the volatility and stability of oligopeptides, J. Mass Spectrom. 52, 550 (2017).
  4. M. Debiossac, et al.,  Tailored photocleavable peptides: fragmentation and neutralization pathways in high vacuum, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 20, 11412 (2018).
  5. J. Schätti, et al.,  Pushing the mass limit for intact launch and photoionization of large neutral biopolymers, Communications Chemistry 1, 93 (2018).
  6. L. Mairhofer, et al.,  Quantum-Assisted Metrology of Neutral Vitamins in the Gas Phase,Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 56, 10947 (2017).
  7. S. Eibenberger, X. Cheng, J.P. Cotter, and M. Arndt,  Absolute absorption cross sections from photon recoil in a matter-wave interferometer, Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 250402 (2014).
  8. J. Rodewald, et al.,  New avenues for matter-wave-enhanced spectroscopy, Appl. Phys. B 123, (2016).
  9. C. Brand, et al.,  Conformer-selection by matter-wave interference, Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 173002 (2018).
  10. L. Mairhofer, S. Eibenberger, A. Shayeghi, and M. Arndt,  A Quantum Ruler for Magnetic Deflectometry, Entropy 20, 516 (2018).