Nuclear emulsions for the detection of micrometric-scale fringe patterns: an application to positron interferometry

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that nuclear emulsions can effectively detect micrometric fringe patterns from positron interferometry, enabling high-resolution observation of matter-wave interference at low energies.

Contribution

It introduces the use of nuclear emulsions for direct detection of micrometric fringe patterns in positron interferometry, showing their capability to resolve features at the micrometer scale.

Findings

Successful reconstruction of periodic patterns with 6, 7, and 20 μm features

Validation of nuclear emulsions as high-resolution detectors for low-energy positrons

Support for feasibility of positron matter-wave interferometry experiments

Abstract

Nuclear emulsions are capable of very high position resolution in the detection of ionizing particles. This feature can be exploited to directly resolve the micrometric-scale fringe pattern produced by a matter-wave interferometer for low energy positrons (in the 10-20 keV range). We have tested the performance of emulsion films in this specific scenario. Exploiting silicon nitride diffraction gratings as absorption masks, we produced periodic patterns with features comparable to the expected interferometer signal. Test samples with periodicities of 6, 7 and 20 {\mu}m were exposed to the positron beam, and the patterns clearly reconstructed. Our results support the feasibility of matter-wave interferometry experiments with positrons.