Cold SO_2 molecules by Stark deceleration

Abstract

We produce SO_2 molecules with a centre of mass velocity near zero using a Stark decelerator. Since the initial kinetic energy of the supersonic SO_2 molecular beam is high, and the removed kinetic energy per stage is small, 326 deceleration stages are necessary to bring SO_2 to a complete standstill, significantly more than in other experiments. We show that in such a decelerator possible loss due to coupling between the motional degrees of freedom must be considered. Experimental results are compared with 3D Monte-Carlo simulations and the quantum state selectivity of the Stark decelerator is demonstrated.

7 pages, 5 figures

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• Molecules Near Absolute Zero and External Field Control of Atomic and Molecular Dynamics
• Deceleration and electrostatic trapping of OH radicals
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• Advanced switching schemes in a Stark decelerator