Related papers: Low-energy molecular collisions in a permanent mag…
Atomic physics was revolutionized by the development of forced evaporative cooling: it led directly to the observation of Bose-Einstein condensation, quantum-degenerate Fermi gases, and ultracold optical lattice simulations of condensed…
The Stark deceleration of OH radicals in both low-field-seeking and high-field-seeking levels of the rovibronic ${}^2\Pi_{3/2},v=0,J=3/2$ ground state is demonstrated using a single experimental setup. Applying alternating-gradient…
We investigate the properties of two interacting ultracold polar molecules described as distinguishable quantum rigid rotors, trapped in a one-dimensional harmonic potential. The molecules interact via a multichannel two-body contact…
Magnetic trapping of bromine atoms at temperatures in the milliKelvin regime is demonstrated for the first time. The atoms are produced by photodissociation of Br$_2$ molecules in a molecular beam. The lab-frame velocity of Br atoms is…
We show that weakly bound He-containing van der Waals molecules can be produced and magnetically trapped in buffer-gas cooling experiments, and provide a general model for the formation and dynamics of these molecules. Our analysis shows…
We report the first detailed decay studies of trapped metastable (2S) hydrogen. By two-photon excitation of ultracold H samples, we have produced clouds of at least 5x10^7 magnetically trapped 2S atoms at densities greater than 4x10^10…
We demonstrate a three-dimensional magneto-optical trap (MOT) of a metal hydride molecule, CaH. We are able to scatter $\sim$$10^{4}$ photons with vibrational loss covered up to vibrational quantum number $\nu=2$. This allows us to laser…
We are developing a new hybrid atom-ion trap to study the interaction of ultracold rubidium atoms with mass-selected OH- molecules. The ions are trapped inside an octupole rf-trap made of thin wires instead of the commonly used rods. This…
We present precision spectroscopy on electrically trapped formaldehyde (H$_2$CO), demonstrating key attributes which will enable molecular spectroscopy with unprecedented precision. Our method makes use of a microstructured electric trap…
Supersonic beams of hydrogen atoms, prepared selectively in Rydberg-Stark states of principal quantum number $n$ in the range between 25 and 35, have been deflected by 90$^\circ$, decelerated and loaded into off-axis electric traps at…
We use accurate ab initio and quantum scattering calculations to explore the prospects for sympathetic cooling of the heavy molecular radical SrOH($^2\Sigma$) by ultracold Li atoms in a magnetic trap. A two-dimensional potential energy…
Photodetachment spectroscopy of OH- and H3O2- anions has been performed in a cryogenic 22-pole radiofrequency multipole trap. Measurements of the detachment cross section as a function of laser frequency near threshold have been analysed.…
Elastic and spin-changing inelastic collision cross sections are presented for cold and ultracold magnetically trapped NH. The cross sections are obtained from coupled-channel scattering calculations as a function of energy and magnetic…
Collisions between cold polar molecules represent a fascinating research frontier, but have proven hard to probe experimentally. We report measurements of inelastic cross sections for collisions between NO and ND 3 molecules at energies…
Hydroxyl (OH) is expected to be abundant in diffuse interstellar molecular gas as it forms along with $H_2$ under similar conditions and within a similar extinction range. We have analyzed absorption measurements of OH at 1665 MHz and 1667…
Cold collisions of ground state oxygen molecules with Helium have been investigated in a wide range of cold collision energies (from 1 $\mu$K up to 10 K) treating the oxygen molecule first as a rigid rotor and then introducing the…
We report optical trapping of laser-cooled molecules at sufficient density to observe molecule-molecule collisions for the first time in a bulk gas. SrF molecules from a red-detuned magneto-optical trap (MOT) are compressed and cooled in a…
We report the magnetic trapping of metastable $^3P_2$ atomic strontium. Atoms are cooled in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) operating on the dipole allowed $^1S_0-^1P_1$ transition at 461 nm. Decay via $^1P_1\to {^1D_2}\to {^3P_2}$…
Cold collisions of $^{14}$N$^{16}$O molecules in the $^{2}\Pi_{1/2}$ ground state, subject to electric and magnetic fields, are investigated. It is found that elastic collision rates significantly exceed state-changing inelastic rates only…
Spin relaxation due to atom-atom collisions is measured for magnetically trapped erbium and thulium atoms at a temperature near 500 mK. The rate constants for Er-Er and Tm-Tm collisions are 3.0 times 10^-10 cm^3 s^-1 and 1.1 times 10^-10…