Related papers: Strong angular-momentum mixing in ultracold atom-i…
Ultra-cold atom-ion mixtures are gaining increasing interest due to their potential applications in quantum chemistry, quantum computing and many-body physics. Here, we studied the dynamics of a single ground-state cooled ion during few, to…
We investigate the energy dependence and the internal-state dependence of the charge-exchange collision cross sections in a mixture of $^6$Li atoms and $^{40}$Ca$^+$ ions in the collision energy range from 0.2 mK to 1 K. Deliberately…
Hybrid atom-ion systems are a rich and powerful platform for studying chemical reactions, as they feature both excellent control over the electronic state preparation and readout as well as a versatile tunability over the scattering energy,…
We investigate rotational state changes in a single collision of diatomic molecular ions, polar or apolar, with an atomic ion. Rotational state changes may occur since the angular degree of freedom of the molecular ions interacts with the…
We present a joint experimental and theoretical study of spin dynamics of a single $^{88}$Sr$^+$ ion colliding with an ultracold cloud of Rb atoms in various hyperfine states. While spin-exchange between the two species occurs after 9.1(6)…
We investigate reaction mechanisms occurring in heavy ion collisions at low energy (around 20 MeV/u). In particular, we focus on the competition between fusion and break-up processes (Deep-Inelastic and fragmentation) in semi-peripheral…
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…
We present a study of vibrational quenching and chemical processes of molecular ions immersed in an ultracold atomic gas by means of the quasi-classical trajectory (QCT) method. In particular, BaRb$^+(v)$ + Rb collisions are studied at cold…
Collisions between electrically charged particles and neutral atoms are central for understanding the dynamics of neutral gases and plasmas in a variety of physical situaziones of terrestrial and astronomical interest. Specifically,…
We investigate theoretically the long-range electrostatic interactions between a ground-state homonuclear alkali-metal dimer and an excited alkali-metal atom taking into account its fine-structure. The interaction involves the combination…
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 theoretically study trapped ions that are immersed in an ultracold gas of Rydberg-dressed atoms. By off-resonant coupling on a dipole-forbidden transition, the adiabatic atom-ion potential can be made repulsive. We study the energy…
We study cold heteronuclear atom ion collisions by immersing a trapped single ion into an ultracold atomic cloud. Using ultracold atoms as reaction targets, our measurement is sensitive to elastic collisions with extremely small energy…
The control of the ultracold collisions between neutral atoms is an extensive and successful field of study. The tools developed allow for ultracold chemical reactions to be managed using magnetic fields, light fields and spin-state…
Hybrid ion-atom systems provide an excellent platform for studies of state-resolved quantum chemistry at low temperatures, where quantum effects may be prevalent. Here we study theoretically the process of vibrational relaxation of an…
We report on the observation of interactions between ultracold Rydberg atoms and ions in a Paul trap. The rate of observed inelastic collisions, which manifest themselves as charge transfer between the Rydberg atoms and ions, exceeds that…
We report the observation of charge-exchange collisions between trapped calcium monohydride molecular ions ($^{40}$CaH$^+$) and ultracold potassium atoms ($^{39}$K) in a hybrid ion-atom trap. The measured charge-exchange rate coefficient is…
Great advances in precision quantum measurement have been achieved with trapped ions and atomic gases at the lowest possible temperatures. These successes have inspired ideas to merge the two systems. In this way one can study the unique…
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…
Sympathetic cooling of molecular ions through the Coulomb interaction with laser-cooled atomic ions is an efficient tool to prepare translationally cold molecules without, ideally, affecting the internal state of the molecular ions.…