Heidelberg 1999 – scientific programme
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Q: Quantenoptik
Q 26: Poster: Laserspektroskopie
Q 26.1: Poster
Tuesday, March 16, 1999, 16:30–18:30, PH
Concepts for a matterwave interferometer with K2 — •M.-L. Almazor, Ch. Lisdat, H. Knöckel, and E. Tiemann — Institut für Quantenoptik, Universität Hannover, Welfengarten 1, D-30167 Hannover
Despite the overwhelming progress with atomic interferometry, up to now there are only few cases where interferometric studies on molecules are performed. For an experimental realisation, we study the case of K2. The needs for the Ramsey-Bordé interferometer are discussed using a π/2 laser interaction as beamsplitter and mirror. The K2 molecule offers the advantage to adjust the lifetime of the excited state by choosing the appropriate perturbed state which results from a mixture of a short-lived vibrational level of the A1Σ u+ state and a long-lived vibrational level of the b3Πu state by spin-orbit coupling. Thus this gives a wider range of choosing the geometry of the interferometer.
A new type of interferometer applying the STIRAP method (coherent population transfer) for the manipulation of the molecular beam will be described which should offer interferometric studies with the high-lying vibrational levels of the electronic ground state. Because there is no general method to cool molecules, we will also discuss the conditions for the velocity distribution in the beam to obtain well structured interference signal.