[en] Full text: We create and launch silicon nanoparticles beneath a high finesse cavity in high vacuum environment. While a particle transits through the intense cavity field the transverse kinetic energy is cooled by a factor of over 30. By detecting the scattered light from the particle we can trace the particles movement in real time. This is a vital step towards quantum coherence experiments with nanoparticles. (author)

No abstract available

[en] Full text: Testing the delocalization of individual massive objects is an exciting experimental challenge of modern quantum physics and substantial progress in matter-wave interferometry with complex particles has led to the establishment of quantum-assisted molecule metrology and advanced investigations at the boundary between the classical and quantum mechanical evolution of very massive objects. New interferometers have led to demonstrations of the quantum wave nature of organic molecules beyond 10 000 amu and even of clusters of molecules. One of the major challenges for future interference experiments with large particles is the production of a neutral and slow molecular beam. We aim at particles with a mass beyond 104 u that should travel with sufficient intensity, low internal temperature and low transverse velocity. Here we present a series of experiments characterizing different laser desorption sources for future quantum interference experiments, the Quantum LIMES (Laser Induced Molecule Evaporation Sources). We describe the matrix-free laser desorption and laser-induced acoustic desorption (LIAD) with subsequent UV/VUV photoionization in combination with time-of-flight mass spectrometry. We present mass spectra and velocity distributions of large tailor-made perfluoroalkyl-functionalized molecules as well as more thermo labile biomolecules and we discuss the suitability of LIAD for matter wave interferometry. (author)

No abstract available