Related papers: Ion-lithium collision dynamics studied with an in-…
A reaction microscope (ReMi) has been combined with a magneto-optical trap (MOT) for the kinematically complete investigation of atomic break-up processes. With the novel MOTReMi apparatus, the momentum vectors of the fragments of…
Momentum-resolved scattering experiments with laser-cooled atomic targets have been performed since almost two decades with MOTRIMS (Magneto-Optical Trap Recoil Ion Momentum Spectroscopy) setups. Compared to experiments with gas-jet…
We developed a magneto-optical trap reaction microscope (MOTREMI) for strontium atoms by combining the multi-particle coincident detection with laser cooling technique. Present compact injection system can provide cold Sr atoms in three…
The trapping lasers of a magneto-optical trap (MOT) are used to bring Rb atoms into well defined oriented states. Coupled to recoil-ion momentum spectroscopy (RIMS), this yields a unique MOTRIMS setup which is able to probe scattering…
We describe an experimental setup comprised of a discharge source for supersonic beams of metastable helium atoms and a magneto-optical trap (MOT) for ultracold lithium atoms that makes it possible to study Penning ionization and…
We measure the collision rate coefficient between laser cooled Rubidium (Rb) atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) and optically dark Rb+ ions in an overlapping Paul trap. In such a mixture, the ions are created from the MOT atoms and…
We describe an apparatus where many species of ultracold atoms can be simultaneously trapped and overlapped with many species of ions in a Paul trap. Several design innovations are made to increase the versatility of the apparatus while…
We demonstrate simultaneous deceleration and trapping of a cold atomic and molecular mixture. This is the first step towards studies of cold atom-molecule collisions at low temperatures as well as application of sympathetic cooling. Both…
We report on a study of cold reactive collisions between sympathetically-cooled molecular ions and laser-cooled atoms in an ion-atom hybrid trap. Chemical reactions were studied at average collision energies <Ecoll>/k > 20 mK, about two…
The formation of Li$_2^+$ and subsequently Li$^+$ ions, during the excitation of $^7$Li atoms to the $3S_{1/2}$ state in a $^7$Li magneto optical trap (MOT), is probed in an ion-atom hybrid trap. Associative ionization occurs during the…
Sympathetic cooling is the process of energy exchange between a system and a colder bath. We investigate this fundamental process in an atom-ion experiment where the system is composed of a single ion, trapped in a radio-frequency Paul…
We report the measurement of collision rate coefficient for collisions between ultracold Cs atoms and low energy Cs+ ions. The experiments are performed in a hybrid trap consisting of a magneto-optical trap (MOT) for Cs atoms and a Paul…
A mixed system of cooled and trapped, ions and atoms, paves the way for ion assisted cold chemistry and novel many body studies. Due to the different individual trapping mechanisms, trapped atoms are significantly colder than trapped ions,…
This thesis is divided into two parts, each of which supports constructing and using a lithium magneto-optical trap for cold collision studies: Part I: One outgoing channel of interest from cold collisions is the production of ion pairs. We…
An all-optical, near-resonant laser atom trap is used to prepare an electronically excited and polarized gas target at mK-temperature for complete photo-ionization studies. As a proof-of-principal experiment, lithium atoms in the…
In the past, light-assisted cold collisions between laser cooled atoms have been widely studied in magneto-optical atom traps (MOTs). We describe here theoretical studies of dynamical interactions, specifically cold collisions, between…
We study the dynamics of atoms in optical traps when exposed to laser cooling light that induces light-assisted collisions. We experimentally prepare individual atom pairs and observe their evolution. Due to the simplicity of the system…
Experiments are starting to probe collisions and chemical reactions between atoms and molecules at ultra-low temperatures. We have developed a new theoretical procedure for studying these collisions using the R-matrix method. Here this…
We experimentally demonstrate cooling of trapped ions by collisions with co-trapped, higher mass neutral atoms. It is shown that the lighter $^{39}$K$^{+}$ ions, created by ionizing $^{39}$K atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT), when…
In the development of atomic, molecular and optical (AMO) physics, atom-ion hybrid systems are characterized by the presence of a new tool in the experimental AMO toolbox: atom-ion interactions. One of the main limitations in…