Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

The de Broglie Wavelength

The de Broglie Wavelength

In the macroscopic world, objects that are large enough to be seen by the naked eye follow the rules of classical physics. A billiard ball moving on a table will behave like a particle; it will continue traveling in a straight line unless it collides with another ball, or it is acted on by some other force, such as friction. The ball has a well-defined position and velocity or well-defined momentum, p = mv, which is defined by mass m and velocity v at any given moment. This is the typical...

Molecular Spectroscopy: Absorption and Emission

Molecular Spectroscopy: Absorption and Emission

Molecules possess discrete energy levels called quantum states. Unlike atoms, which have simpler energy levels, molecules possess additional rotational and vibrational energy levels. Each energy level is separated by an energy gap, with the gaps between adjacent electronic, vibrational, and rotational levels varying significantly. The three types of energy levels in a diatomic molecule are shown in Figure 1.

The Uncertainty Principle

The Uncertainty Principle

Werner Heisenberg considered the limits of how accurately one can measure properties of an electron or other microscopic particles. He determined that there is a fundamental limit to how accurately one can measure both a particle’s position and its momentum simultaneously. The more accurate the measurement of the momentum of a particle is known, the less accurate the position at that time is known and vice versa. This is what is now called the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. He...

UV–Vis Spectroscopy: Molecular Electronic Transitions

UV–Vis Spectroscopy: Molecular Electronic Transitions

In Ultraviolet–Visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy, the absorption of electromagnetic radiation is used to probe the electronic structure of molecules. This technique provides insights into molecular electronic transitions, particularly the movement of electrons between different molecular orbitals. Radiation is absorbed if the energy of the electromagnetic radiation passing through the molecule is precisely equal to the energy difference between the excited and ground states. During this...

IR Spectroscopy: Hooke's Law Approximation of Molecular Vibration

IR Spectroscopy: Hooke's Law Approximation of Molecular Vibration

A covalently bonded heteronuclear diatomic molecule can be modeled as two vibrating masses connected by a spring. The vibrational frequency of the bond can be expressed using an equation derived from Hooke's law, which describes how the force applied to stretch or compress a spring is proportional to the displacement of the spring. In this case, the atoms behave like masses, and the bond acts like a spring.
According to Hooke's law, the vibrational frequency is directly proportional to...

The Quantum-Mechanical Model of an Atom

The Quantum-Mechanical Model of an Atom

Shortly after de Broglie published his ideas that the electron in a hydrogen atom could be better thought of as being a circular standing wave instead of a particle moving in quantized circular orbits, Erwin Schrödinger extended de Broglie’s work by deriving what is now known as the Schrödinger equation. When Schrödinger applied his equation to hydrogen-like atoms, he was able to reproduce Bohr’s expression for the energy and, thus, the Rydberg formula governing hydrogen spectra.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

A triboelectric radical generation route to chlorine disinfectants from brine.

Nature communications·2026

Same author

Synthesizing Boron Nitride Quantum Dots in Microdroplets.

Nano letters·2026

Same author

FASN Inhibition Resensitizes Chordoma to Radiotherapy by Targeting Adaptive Unsaturated Fatty Acid Metabolism.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

Single-Rain Droplet Amperometry Reveals Spontaneous and Regulated H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> Formation on Leaf Surfaces.

Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids·2026

Same author

Comparison of Mass Spectrometry Imaging by Desorption Electrospray Ionization (DESI) and Desorption Electro-Flow Focusing Ionization (DEFFI).

Metabolites·2026

Same author

Dark Reactions in Microdroplets Explain Widespread Artifacts in Metabolomic Profiling.

ACS measurement science au·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 13, 2025

$Studying Soft-matter and Biological Systems over a Wide Length-scale from Nanometer and Micrometer Sizes at the Small-angle Neutron Diffractometer KWS-2$

Studying Soft-matter and Biological Systems over a Wide Length-scale from Nanometer and Micrometer Sizes at the Small-angle Neutron Diffractometer KWS-2

Published on: December 8, 2016

Quantum mechanical double slit for molecular scattering.

Haowen Zhou¹, William E Perreault¹, Nandini Mukherjee¹

¹Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.

Science (New York, N.Y.)

|November 18, 2021

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers created a quantum mechanical double-slit interferometer using molecular deuterium. This experiment confirms wave-like particle properties and opens new avenues for controlling molecular collisions.

More Related Videos

An Analog Macroscopic Technique for Studying Molecular Hydrodynamic Processes in Dense Gases and Liquids

An Analog Macroscopic Technique for Studying Molecular Hydrodynamic Processes in Dense Gases and Liquids

Published on: December 4, 2017

High Resolution Phonon-assisted Quasi-resonance Fluorescence Spectroscopy

High Resolution Phonon-assisted Quasi-resonance Fluorescence Spectroscopy

Published on: June 28, 2016

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Oct 13, 2025

$Studying Soft-matter and Biological Systems over a Wide Length-scale from Nanometer and Micrometer Sizes at the Small-angle Neutron Diffractometer KWS-2$

Studying Soft-matter and Biological Systems over a Wide Length-scale from Nanometer and Micrometer Sizes at the Small-angle Neutron Diffractometer KWS-2

Published on: December 8, 2016

An Analog Macroscopic Technique for Studying Molecular Hydrodynamic Processes in Dense Gases and Liquids

An Analog Macroscopic Technique for Studying Molecular Hydrodynamic Processes in Dense Gases and Liquids

Published on: December 4, 2017

High Resolution Phonon-assisted Quasi-resonance Fluorescence Spectroscopy

High Resolution Phonon-assisted Quasi-resonance Fluorescence Spectroscopy

Published on: June 28, 2016

Area of Science:

Quantum mechanics
Molecular physics
Chemical physics

Background:

The double-slit experiment is a cornerstone for demonstrating quantum mechanical wave-particle duality.
Understanding molecular interactions at the quantum level is crucial for controlling chemical reactions.

Purpose of the Study:

To construct a quantum mechanical double-slit interferometer using molecular deuterium.
To demonstrate the wave properties of molecules in a collision experiment.
To explore new methods for coherent control of molecular collisions.

Main Methods:

Utilized rovibrational excitation of molecular deuterium (D2) to a biaxial state (v=2, j=2) via Stark-induced adiabatic Raman passage.
Investigated rotational relaxation of D2 (v=2, j=2) to D2 (v=2, j'=0) through cold collisions with ground state helium.
Manipulated the coherently coupled bond axis orientations of D2 to act as two slits.

Main Results:

Observed interference patterns, confirming the wave-like behavior of molecular deuterium.
Demonstrated that the biaxial state of D2 acts as a double-slit.
Showed that interference disappears when the bond axis orientations are decoupled into uniaxial states.

Conclusions:

The biaxial state of molecular deuterium unequivocally acts as a double-slit in a quantum mechanical interferometer.
This work establishes a novel platform for studying quantum interference in molecular collisions.
The findings open new possibilities for the coherent control of molecular collisions.