Observation of Chemical Reactions between a Trapped Ion and Ultracold Feshbach Dimers

Abstract

We measure chemical reactions between a single trapped ${}^{174}$Yb${}^{+}$ ion immersed in an ultracold bath of ${}^6$Li atoms containing trace amounts of Li${}_2$ dimers. This produces LiYb${}^{+}$ molecular ions that we detect via mass spectrometry. We explain the reaction rates by modelling the dimer density as a function of the magnetic field and obtain excellent agreement when we assume the reaction to follow the Langevin rate. Our results present a novel approach towards the creation of cold molecular ions and point to the exploration of ultracold chemistry in ion molecule collisions. What is more, with a detection sensitivity below molecule densities of $10^{14}{\mathrm{m}}^{-3}$, we provide a new method to detect low-density molecular gases.

arXiv comment10 pages, 8 figures

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Cited by in corpus (22)

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• Three-body recombination in physical chemistry
• Quantum-limited thermometry of a Fermi gas with a charged spin particle
• Trap-assisted complexes in cold atom-ion collisions
• Ultracold ion-atom experiments: cooling, chemistry, and quantum effects
• Quantum state tracking and control of a single molecular ion in a thermal environment
• Electric field analysis in a cold-ion source using Stark spectroscopy of Rydberg atoms
• Ion-atom-atom three-body recombination in cold hydrogen and deuterium plasmas
• Modified mean field ansatz for charged polarons in a Bose-Einstein condensate
• The dynamics of a single trapped ion in a high density media: a stochastic approach
• Ultracold Interactions between Ions and Polar Molecules
• Trap-induced atom-ion complexes: a time-independent approach
• Cold atom-ion systems in radiofrequency multipole traps: event-drive molecular dynamics and stochastic simulations
• $In$ $situ$ observation of non-polar to strongly polar atom-ion collision dynamics
• Cold hybrid electrical-optical ion trap
• Phonon-mediated quantum gates in trapped ions coupled to an ultracold atomic gas
• Quantum suppression of cold reactions far from the s-wave energy limit
• Chemistry in a Cryogenic Buffer Gas Cell
• Fast Single-shot Imaging of Individual Ions via Homodyne Detection of Rydberg-Blockade-Induced Absorption
• A versatile apparatus for simultaneous trapping of multiple species of ultracold atoms and ions to enable studies of low energy collisions and cold chemistry
• Surface-induced decoherence and heating of charged particles
• Universality in Ionic Three-body Systems Near an Ion-atom Feshbach Resonance