English

High-resolution imaging of molecular collisions using a Zeeman decelerator

Atomic Physics 2020-04-22 v1

Abstract

We present the first crossed beam scattering experiment using a Zeeman decelerated molecular beam. The narrow velocity spreads of Zeeman decelerated NO (X2Π3/2,j=3/2X ^2\Pi_{3/2}, j=3/2) radicals result in high-resolution scattering images, thereby fully resolving quantum diffraction oscillations in the angular scattering distribution for inelastic NO-Ne collisions, and product-pair correlations in the radial scattering distribution for inelastic NO-O2_2 collisions. These measurements demonstrate similar resolution and sensitivity as in experiments using Stark decelerators, opening up possibilities for controlled and low-energy scattering experiments using chemically relevant species such as H and O atoms, O2_2 molecules or NH radicals.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1909.02542,
  title  = {High-resolution imaging of molecular collisions using a Zeeman decelerator},
  author = {Vikram Plomp and Zhi Gao and Theo Cremers and Matthieu Besemer and Sebastiaan Y. T. van de Meerakker},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1909.02542},
  year   = {2020}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-23T11:07:02.726Z