Abstract
In the present work we provide experimental evidence for Young-type interferences caused by one single electron acting on a given double-center scatterer which is analogous to an atomic-size double-slit apparatus. The interfering electron is provided by autoionization of a doubly-excited helium atom following the capture of the two H 2 target electrons by a He 2+ incoming projectile ion. In the backward direction, the auto-ionized electron scatters on the two H + centers of the fully ionized target molecule. Here, the auto-ionizing projectile plays the role of a single-electron source, independent of the interferometer provided by the residual two-center target. The present experiment resembles the famous “thought experiment” imagined by Feynman in 1963, in which the quantum nature of the electron is illustrated from a Young-like double-slit experiment. Similarly to the case of Young's experiment with light, the interference effect manifests itself in well defined oscillations in the angular distribution of the scattered electrons. To cite this article: F. Frémont et al., C. R. Physique 9 (2008).
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