Coherence and Decoherence Experiments with Fullerenes

Abstract

We present a review of recent experiments on molecular coherence and decoherence with fullerene molecules. Nearly perfect quantum interference with high fringe contrast can be observed in far-field diffraction as well as in near-field interferometry, when the molecules are sufficiently well isolated from their environment. This is true for ambient pressures below 10^-7 mbar and internal temperatures below 1000 K. The fringe contrast decreases gradually as the interaction with the environment is smoothly turned on by either increasing the ambient pressure or by heating the molecules.