Related papers: A Moving Magnetic Trap Decelerator: a New Source f…
We study the dynamics of a supersonic molecular beam in a low-finesse optical cavity and demonstrate that most molecules in the beam can be decelerated to zero central velocity by the intracavity optical field in a process analogous to…
Beams of neutral polar molecules in a low-field seeking quantum state can be slowed down using a Stark decelerator, and can subsequently be loaded and confined in electrostatic quadrupole traps. The efficiency of the trap loading process is…
A fast packet of cold atoms is coupled into a magnetic guide and subsequently slowed down by reflection on a magnetic potential barrier ('mirror') moving along the guide. A detailed characterization of the resulting decelerated packet is…
We present a moving-trap Zeeman decelerator (MTZD) for use in molecular beam manipulation and magnetic-trapping experiments of paramagnetic atoms and molecules. The 0.49 m MTZD consists of a combination of a 2D magnetic quadrupole guide and…
We propose an alternative method to laser cooling. Our approach utilizes the extreme brightness of a supersonic atomic beam, and the adiabatic atomic coilgun to slow atoms in the beam or to bring them to rest. We show how internal-state…
Recent experiments have demonstrated direct cooling and trapping of diatomic and triatomic molecules in magneto-optical traps (MOTs). However, even the best molecular MOTs to date still have density $10^{-5}$ times smaller than in typical…
We propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel scheme to magneto-optically trap neutral atoms in a ring shaped trap that can be used to transfer atoms into a circular magnetic trap with high density. This inturn enables to evaporatively…
Cryogenic buffer-gas beams are a promising method for producing bright sources of cold molecular radicals for cold collision and chemical reaction experiments. In order to use these beams in studies of reactions with controlled collision…
Direct laser cooling of molecules has reached a phase space density exceeding 10$^{-6}$ in optical traps, but with rather small molecular numbers. To progress towards quantum degeneracy, a mechanism is needed that combines sub-Doppler…
The capture of a moving atom by a non-dissipative trap, such as an optical dipole trap, requires the removal of the excessive kinetic energy of the atom. In this article we develop a mechanism to harvest ultra cold atoms from a guided atom…
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 demonstrate the deceleration of heavy polar molecules in low-field seeking states by combining a cryogenic source and a travelling-wave Stark decelerator. The cryogenic source provides a high intensity beam with low speed and…
We demonstrate experimentally the continuous and pulsed loading of a slow and cold atomic beam into a magnetic guide. The slow beam is produced using a vapor loaded laser trap, which ensures two-dimensional magneto-optical trapping, as well…
Trapping of atoms and molecules in electrostatic, magnetic and optical traps has enabled studying atomic and molecular interactions on a timescale of many seconds, allowing observations of ultra-cold collisions and reactions. Here we report…
Polar heavy-atom molecules have been well recognized as promising candidates for precision measurements and tests of fundamental physics. A much slower molecular beam to increase the interaction time should lead to a more sensitive…
This paper presents detailed characteristics of an ultra-cold bright metastable neon atomic beam which we have been using for atom-interferometric applications. The basis of the device is an atomic beam released from a magneto-optical trap…
We present a novel slowing scheme for beams of laser-coolable diatomic molecules reminiscent of Zeeman slowing of atomic beams. The scheme results in efficient compression of the 1-dimensional velocity distribution to velocities trappable…
Producing large samples of slow molecules from thermal-velocity ensembles is a formidable challenge. Here we employ a centrifugal force to produce a continuous molecular beam with a high flux at near-zero velocities. We demonstrate…
We report on the production, deceleration and detection of a SrF molecular beam. The molecules are captured from a supersonic expansion and are decelerated in the X$^2\Sigma^+ (v=0, N=1)$ state. We demonstrate the removal of up to 40% of…
Molecular magneto-optical traps (MOTs) typically capture orders of magnitude fewer particles than their atomic counterparts due in part to their significantly lower capture velocities. Here, we employ a Stochastic Schr\"odinger Equation…