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PV: Plenarvorträge

PV IX

PV IX: Plenarvortrag

Freitag, 8. März 2002, 09:45–10:30, Stadthalle

Deceleration and Trapping of Neutral Dipolar Molecules — •Gerard Meijer — FOM Institute for Plasma Physics ‘Rijnhuizen’, Edisonbaan 14, NL-3439 MN Nieuwegein, The Netherlands — Dept. of Molecular and Laser Physics, University of Nijmegen, Toernooiveld 1, NL-6525 ED Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Over the past few decades, physicists have steadily learned to cool atoms to lower and lower temperatures and to gain increasing control over them, with exciting and sometimes unforeseen consequences. The payoffs have included atom interferometry, precision spectroscopy, Bose-Einstein condensates, and even atom lasers. Not surprisingly, those who work with molecules rather than atoms also want in the game. The challenges – formidable enough for atoms – loom even larger for molecules. Nevertheless, a number of chemical physicists have entered the quest, with the goal of bringing molecules to sub millikelvin temperatures, slow enough to be trapped or otherwise manipulated(See: B.G. Levi, ‘Hot prospects for ultracold molecules’, Physics Today 53 (2000) 46–50).

In this presentation an overview will be given of the different methods that are currently employed to produce samples of ‘Cold Molecules’. In particular, the method to actively decelerate and subsequently trap dipolar molecules using time-varying inhomogeneous electric fields, a method pioneered in our lab, will be explained in detail, and the fascinating future prospects of this experimental approach will be sketched.