Matter-wave diffraction at the natural limit

The high sensitivity of matter-wave interferometry experiments to forces and perturbations makes them an essential tool for precision measurements and tests of quantum physics. While mostly grating made of laser-light are used, material gratings have the advantage that they are independent of the particle's internal properties. This makes them universally applicable. However, the molecules will experience substantial van der Waals shifts while passing the grating slits, which suggests limiting this perturbation by reducing the material thickness. In a comprehensive study we compared the van der Waals interactions for free-standing gratings made from single and double layer graphene to masks commonly used in atom interferometry [1]. From the population of high fringe orders we deduce a surprisingly strong electrical interaction between the polarizable molecules and the nanomasks. As even for these thinnest diffraction elements which-path information is not shared with the environment, we interpret this as an experimental affirmation of Bohr's arguments in his famous debate with Einstein.\\[1] C. Brand et al., Nat. Nanotechnol. 10 (2015)