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research article

Quantum interference observed in state-resolved molecule-surface scattering

Reilly, Christopher S.  
•
Auerbach, Daniel J.  
•
Zhang, Liang  
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February 27, 2025
Science

Although the dynamics of collisions between a molecule and a solid surface are ultimately quantum mechanical, decohering effects owing to the large number of interacting degrees of freedom typically obscure the wavelike nature of these events. However, a partial decoupling of internal molecular motion from external degrees of freedom can reveal striking interference effects despite significant momentum exchange between the molecule and the bath of surface vibrations. We report state-prepared and state-resolved measurements of methane scattering from a room-temperature gold surface that demonstrate total destructive interference between molecular states related by a reflection symmetry operation. High-contrast interference effects prevail for all processes investigated, including vibrationally excited and vibrationally inelastic collisions. The results demonstrate the distinctly quantum mechanical effect of discrete symmetries in molecular collision dynamics.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1126/science.adu1023
Author(s)
Reilly, Christopher S.  

EPFL

Auerbach, Daniel J.  

EPFL

Zhang, Liang  

University of New Mexico

Guo, Hua

University of New Mexico

Beck, Rainer D.  

EPFL

Date Issued

2025-02-27

Publisher

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Published in
Science
Volume

387

Issue

6737

Start page

962

End page

967

URL

Data and materials availability

https://datadryad.org/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.g4f4qrg0j
Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
SCI-SB-RB  
Available on Infoscience
February 28, 2025
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/247309
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