Slowing heavy, ground-state molecules using an alternating gradient decelerator
Atomic Physics
2009-11-10 v1
Abstract
Cold supersonic beams of molecules can be slowed down using a switched sequence of electrostatic field gradients. The energy to be removed is proportional to the mass of the molecules. Here we report deceleration of YbF, which is 7 times heavier than any molecule previously decelerated. We use an alternating gradient structure to decelerate and focus the molecules in their ground state. We show that the decelerator exhibits the axial and transverse stability required to bring these molecules to rest. Our work significantly extends the range of molecules amenable to this powerful method of cooling and trapping.
Cite
@article{arxiv.physics/0312119,
title = {Slowing heavy, ground-state molecules using an alternating gradient decelerator},
author = {M. R. Tarbutt and H. L. Bethlem and J. J. Hudson and V. L. Ryabov and V. A. Ryzhov and B. E. Sauer and G. Meijer and E. A. Hinds},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:physics/0312119},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
4 pages, 5 figures