Magnetic Trapping of Cold Methyl Radicals

Abstract

We have demonstrated that a supersonic beam of methyl radicals (CH${}_3$) in the ground rotational state of both $para$ and $ortho$ species has been slowed down to standstill with a magnetic molecular decelerator, and successfully captured spatially in an anti-Helmholtz magnetic trap for $>$ 1 s. The trapped CH${}_3$ radicals have a mean translational temperature of about 200 mK with an estimated density of $>5.0\times 10^7$ cm${}^{-3}$. The methyl radical is an ideal system for the study of cold molecules not only because of its high reactivities at low temperatures, but also because further cooling below 1 mK is plausible via sympathetic cooling with ultracold atoms. The demonstrated trapping capability of methyl radicals opens up various possibilities for realizing ultracold ensembles of molecules towards Bose-Einstein condensation of polyatomic molecules and investigations of reactions governed by quantum statistics.

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• 1D Magneto-Optical Trap of Polyatomic Molecules
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• Collisions between cold molecules in a superconducting magnetic trap
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• Atom-molecule collisions, spin relaxation, and sympathetic cooling in an ultracold spin-polarized Rb(${}^2\mathrm{S}$)-SrF${(}^2{\Sigma }^{+})$ mixture
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• Universal probability distributions of scattering observables in ultracold molecular collisions
• Design and construction of a multistage Zeeman decelerator for crossed molecular beams scattering experiments
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• Cold collisions of heavy ${}^2\Sigma$ molecules with alkali-metal atoms in a magnetic field: Ab initio analysis and prospects for sympathetic cooling of SrOH${(}^2\Sigma )$ by Li(${}^2$S)
• High-resolution imaging of molecular collisions using a Zeeman decelerator
• Multistage Zeeman deceleration of NH $X{}^3{\Sigma }^{-}$ radicals
• Large molasses-like cooling forces for molecules using polychromatic optical fields: A theoretical description
• Multistage Zeeman deceleration of atomic and molecular oxygen
• Blackbody thermalization and vibrational lifetimes of trapped polyatomic molecules
• Intensity-borrowing mechanisms pertinent to laser cooling of linear polyatomic molecules
• Interactions of benzene, naphthalene, and azulene with alkali-metal and alkaline-earth-metal atoms for ultracold studies
• A New Design for a Traveling-Wave Zeeman Decelerator: II. Experiment
• Production of rotationally cold methyl radicals in pulsed supersonic beams
• Measurements of trap dynamics of cold OH molecules using resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization
• Cold CH radicals for laser cooling and trapping
• Rigorous quantum calculations for atom-molecule chemical reactions in electric fields: from single to multiple partial wave regimes
• Parity-Doublet Coherence Times in Optically Trapped Polyatomic Molecules
• Translational dynamics of diatomic molecule in magnetic quadrupole trap
• Highly spin-polarized molecules via collisional microwave pumping
• Simultaneous Zeeman deceleration of polyatomic free radical with lithium atoms