We describe the creation and characterisation of a velocity tunable, spin-polarized beam of slow metastable argon atoms. We show that the beam velocity can be determined with a precision below 1% using matter-wave interferometry. The profile of the interference pattern was also used to determine the velocity spread of the beam, as well as the Van der Waals (VdW) co-efficient for the interaction between the metastable atoms and the multi-slit silicon nitride grating. The VdW co-efficient was determined to be C ₃ = 1.84 0.17 a.u., in good agreement with values derived from spectroscopic data. Finally, the spin polarization of the beam produced during acceleration of the beam was also measured, demonstrating a spatially uniform spin polarization of 96% in the m = +2 state.

我们描述了速度可调的自旋极化慢亚稳氩原子束的创建和表征。我们表明，使用物质波干涉法可以以低于 1% 的精度确定光束速度。干涉图案的轮廓还用于确定光束的速度扩展，以及亚稳态原子和多缝氮化硅光栅之间相互作用的范德华 (VdW) 系数。VdW 系数确定为C ₃ = 1.84 0.17 au，与光谱数据得出的值非常一致。最后，还测量了光束加速期间产生的光束的自旋极化，表明在m = +2 状态下空间均匀的自旋极化为 96% 。