Decelerating molecules with microwave fields

Abstract

We here report on the experimental realization of a microwave decelerator for neutral polar molecules, suitable for decelerating and focusing molecules in high-field-seeking states. The multi-stage decelerator consists of a cylindrical microwave cavity oscillating on the TE 11n mode, with n=12 electric field maxima along the symmetry axis. By switching the microwave field on and off at the appropriate times, a beam of state-selected ammonia molecules with an incident mean velocity of 25 m/s is guided while being spatially focussed in the transverse direction and bunched in the forward direction. Deceleration from 20.0 m/s to 16.9 m/s and acceleration from 20.0 m/s to 22.7 m/s is demonstrated.

4 Pages, 3 Figures

References in corpus (7)

• An AC electric trap for ground-state molecules
• A selector for structural isomers of neutral molecules
• Direct measurement of the radiative lifetime of vibrationally excited OH radicals
• Microwave traps for cold polar molecules
• Two-dimensional trapping of dipolar molecules in time-varying electric fields
• Microwave Lens for Polar Molecules
• Nonlinear dynamics in an alternating gradient guide for neutral particles

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Manipulation of Molecules with Electromagnetic Fields
• Optoelectrical cooling of polar molecules to sub-millikelvin temperatures
• Sub-Doppler Cooling and Compressed Trapping of YO Molecules at $\mu$K Temperatures
• Microwave trap for atoms and molecules
• A novel crossed-molecular-beam experiment for investigating reactions of state- and conformationally selected strong-field-seeking molecules