Bragg Diffraction of Large Organic Molecules

Phys Rev Lett. 2020 Jul 17;125(3):033604. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.033604.

Abstract

We demonstrate Bragg diffraction of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin and the dye molecule phthalocyanine at a thick optical grating. The observed patterns show a single dominant diffraction order with the expected dependence on the incidence angle as well as oscillating population transfer between the undiffracted and diffracted beams. We achieve an equal-amplitude splitting of 14ℏk (photon momenta) and maximum momentum transfer of 18ℏk. This paves the way for efficient, large-momentum beam splitters and mirrors for hot and complex molecules.

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / chemistry
  • Ciprofloxacin / chemistry*
  • Indoles / chemistry*
  • Interferometry / methods
  • Isoindoles
  • Models, Chemical*
  • Models, Molecular
  • Pigments, Biological / chemistry
  • Scattering, Radiation

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Indoles
  • Isoindoles
  • Pigments, Biological
  • Ciprofloxacin
  • phthalocyanine