Related papers: Ion-lithium collision dynamics studied with an in-…
Recent results connected to nuclear collision dynamics, from low up to relativistic energies, are reviewed. Heavy ion reactions offer the unique opportunity to probe the complex nuclear many-body dynamics and to explore, in laboratory…
Collisional relaxation of Coulomb systems is studied in the strongly coupled regime. We use an optical pump-probe approach to manipulate and monitor the dynamics of ions in an ultracold neutral plasma, which allows direct measurement of…
Magnetic resonance in an ensemble of laser-cooled trapped Rb atoms is excited using a micro- cantilever with a magnetic tip. The cantilever is mounted on a multi-layer chip designed to capture, cool, and magnetically transport cold atoms.…
We present two methods for studying reactive collisions between two atomic or molecular species: a collinear merged-beam method, in which two gas pulses from a single supersonic beam source are coalesced, and an intrabeam-scattering…
Isolating neutral and charged particles from the environment is essential in precision experiments. For decades, this has been achieved by trapping ions with radio-frequency (rf) fields and neutral particles with optical fields. Recently,…
We present a theoretical and experimental investigation of homonuclear ionizing collisions of laser-cooled metastable helium atoms, considering both the fermionic He-3 and bosonic He-4 isotope. The theoretical description combines quantum…
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…
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…
In the last 5 years, a novel field of physics and chemistry has developed in which cold trapped ions and ultracold atomic gases are brought into contact with each other. Combining ion traps with traps for neutral atoms yields a variety of…
We study photoionization of cold rubidium atoms in a strong infrared laser field using a magneto-optical trap (MOT) recoil ion momentum spectrometer. Three types of cold rubidium target are provided, operating in two-dimension (2D) MOT, 2D…
Key to advancing lithium-ion battery technology, and in particular fast charging capabilities, is our ability to follow and understand the dynamic processes occurring in operating materials under realistic conditions, in real time, and on…
We have successfully implemented the first simultaneous magneto-optical trapping (MOT) of lithium ($^6$Li) and ytterbium ($^{174}$Yb) atoms, towards production of ultracold polar molecules of LiYb. For this purpose, we developed the dual…
The ability to directly measure radiative-association rate coefficients for reactions between ions and neutral molecules has long challenged chemical physics laboratories, yet radiative association is one of the most important processes…
Light-assisted reactive collisions between laser-cooled Ba+ ions and Rb atoms were studied in an ion-atom hybrid trap. The reaction rate was found to strongly depend on the electronic state of the reaction partners with the largest rate…
We describe and characterize an experimental apparatus that has been used to study interactions between ultracold lithium atoms and ytterbium ions. The preparation of ultracold clouds of Li atoms is described as well as their subsequent…
We present the experimental apparatus enabling the observation of the heteronuclear Efimov effect in an optically trapped ultracold mixture of $^6$Li-$^{133}$Cs with high-resolution control of the interactions. A compact double-species…
Cold chemical reactions between laser-cooled Ca^+ ions and Rb atoms were studied in an ion-atom hybrid trap. Reaction rate constants were determined in the range of collision energies <E_{coll}>/k_B = 20 mK-20 K. The lowest energies were…
Hybrid traps for the simultaneous confinement of neutrals and ions have recently emerged as versatile tools for studying interactions between these species at very low temperatures. Such traps rely on the combination of different types of…
We simulate collisions between two atoms, which move in an optical lattice under the dipole-dipole interaction. The model describes simultaneously the two basic dynamical processes, namely the Sisyphus cooling of single atoms, and the…
Collisions with cold particles can dissipate the energy of a hot particle and therefore be exploited as a cooling mechanism. Kinetics teaches us that for a particle to be cooled down by several orders of magnitude, it will typically take…