We discuss recent advances towards matter-wave interference experiments with free beams of metallic and dielectric nanoparticles. They require a brilliant source, an efficient detection scheme and a coherent method to divide the de Broglie waves associated with these clusters: We describe an approach based on a magnetron sputtering source which ejects an intense cluster beam with a wide mass dispersion but a small velocity spread of Δv/v < 10%. The source is universal as it can be used with all conducting and many semiconducting or even insulating materials. Here we focus on metals and dielectrics with a low work function of the bulk and thus a low cluster ionization energy. This allows us to realize photoionization gratings as coherent matter-wave beam splitters and also to realize an efficient ionization detection scheme. These new methods are now combined in an upgraded Talbot-Lau interferometer with three 266 nm depletion gratings. We here describe the experimental boundary conditions and how to realize them in the lab. This next generation of near-field interferometers shall allow us to soon push the limits of matter-wave interference to masses up to 10⁶ amu.

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Sebastian Pedalino, Bruno Ramírez Galindo, Tomas de Sousa, Yaakov Y. Fein, Philipp Geyer, Stefan Gerlich, and Markus Arndt, "Experimental challenges for high-mass matter-wave interference with nanoparticles," Proc. SPIE 12447, Quantum Sensing, Imaging, and Precision Metrology, 124470K (Presented at SPIE Quantum West: January 30, 2023; Published: 8 March 2023); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2657260.