Decelerating molecules with microwave fields
Chemical Physics
2015-06-04 v1 Atomic Physics
Abstract
We here report on the experimental realization of a microwave decelerator for neutral polar molecules, suitable for decelerating and focusing molecules in high-field-seeking states. The multi-stage decelerator consists of a cylindrical microwave cavity oscillating on the TE 11n mode, with n=12 electric field maxima along the symmetry axis. By switching the microwave field on and off at the appropriate times, a beam of state-selected ammonia molecules with an incident mean velocity of 25 m/s is guided while being spatially focussed in the transverse direction and bunched in the forward direction. Deceleration from 20.0 m/s to 16.9 m/s and acceleration from 20.0 m/s to 22.7 m/s is demonstrated.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1204.4019,
title = {Decelerating molecules with microwave fields},
author = {Simon Merz and Nicolas Vanhaecke and Wolfgang Jäger and Melanie Schnell and Gerard Meijer},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1204.4019},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
4 Pages, 3 Figures