Electric-field-controlled cold dipolar collisions between trapped CH${}_3$F molecules

Abstract

Reaching high densities is a key step towards cold-collision experiments with polyatomic molecules. We use a cryofuge to load up to 2$\times 10^7$ CH${}_3$F molecules into a box-like electric trap, achieving densities up to 10${}^7$/cm${}^3$ at temperatures around 350 mK where the elastic dipolar cross-section exceeds 7$\times$10${}^{-12}$cm${}^2$. We measure inelastic rate constants below 4$\times$10${}^{-8}$cm${}^3$/s and control these by tuning a homogeneous electric field that covers a large fraction of the trap volume. Comparison to ab-initio calculations gives excellent agreement with dipolar relaxation. Our techniques and findings are generic and immediately relevant for other cold-molecule collision experiments.

To be published in Physical Review Letters: https://journals.aps.org/prl/accepted/e5070Y42Cf013066f8871d5761f80f99fa8136ff5

References in corpus (12)

• Schemes for robust quantum computation with polar molecules
• Sisyphus Cooling of Electrically Trapped Polyatomic Molecules
• Magneto-electrostatic trapping of ground state OH molecules
• Repulsive shield between polar molecules
• Continuous loading of an electrostatic trap for polar molecules
• Bimolecular chemistry in the ultracold regime
• Realizing unconventional quantum magnetism with symmetric top molecules
• Dynamics of ultracold molecules in confined geometry and electric field
• Opto-Electrical Cooling of Polar Molecules
• Nonadiabatic transitions in electrostatically trapped ammonia molecules
• Cold collisions in a molecular synchrotron
• Cold ion chemistry

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Quantum state resolved molecular dipolar collisions over four decades of energy
• Cryogenic Buffer Gas beams of AlF, CaF, MgF, YbF, Al, Ca, Yb and NO -- a comparison
• Blackbody thermalization and vibrational lifetimes of trapped polyatomic molecules