Berlin 2001 – scientific programme
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MO: Molekülphysik
MO 15: Post-Deadline Contributions Molecular Physics
MO 15.4: Poster
Friday, April 6, 2001, 12:30–15:00, AT3
Laser Spectroscopy of Ultracold Molecular Hydrogen Ions — •U. Fröhlich1, H. Schnitzler2, A. Ostendorf1, A. Peters2, and S. Schiller1 — 1Heinrich-Heine Universität Düsseldorf, D-40225 Düsseldorf — 2Universität Konstanz, D-78457 Konstanz
We present an experiment aimed at high-resolution spectroscopy of the ro-vibrational level structure of HD+. As one of the simplest molecules HD+ is of high interest to validate theories of molecular structure. It allows direct spectroscopic tests of quantum-electrodynamics and relativistic corrections in molecules. The HD+ molecular ions will be confined in a linear rf-trap and sympathetically cooled by interaction with laser cooled Be+ stored in the same trap. The method of sympathetic cooling relies on the long-range Coulomb interaction between the molecular ions and laser cooled atomic ions confined in the same trap. In combination with suitable laser sources an ultra-cold ensemble of molecules can lead to spectroscopic measurements with unprecedented spectral resolution. In the case of the HD+ molecule, to avoid the small 1st order Doppler-broadening, we plan to perform 2-photon spectroscopy of the (ν=0, N=4) - (ν=4, N=4) ro-vibrational transition using a single-frequency cw OPO with an output wavelength of 2.8 µm. The laser cooling light at 313 nm is produced by doubly resonant sum-frequency generation in LBO. Currently we are in the process of confirming the observation of laser cooled Be+ ions and optimizing the cooling process. The next step would be to add the molecules to the ion cloud and to characterize the process of sympathetic cooling.