München 2004 – scientific programme

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MO: Molekülphysik

MO 2: Experimentelle Techniken, Kalte Moleküle

MO 2.1: Talk

Monday, March 22, 2004, 11:30–11:45, HS 332

Laser Spectroscopy of Ultracold Molecular Hydrogen Ions in a Linear RF-Trap — •Ulf Fröhlich¹, Bernhard Roth¹, Thomas Fritsch¹, Claus Lämmerzahl², and Stephan Schiller¹ — ¹Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, D-40225 Düsseldorf — ²Universität Bremen, D-28359 Bremen

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 particularly suitable to test theories of molecular structure.

The HD⁺ molecular ions will be confined in a linear rf-trap and cooled via Coulomb interaction by laser cooled Be⁺ atomic ions confined in the same trap (sympathetic cooling). At sufficient high cooling rates, the laser cooled Be⁺ ions undergo a phase transition to an ordered structure (Coulomb crystal). Numerical simulations show, that one can expect the HD⁺ ions to be embedded in such a Be⁺ ionic crystal. In this way, an ultra-cold ensemble of HD⁺ molecular ions can be prepared for high-resolution laser spectroscopy.

So far, we have prepared and characterized Be⁺ ionic crystals of different size and shape suitable for embedding HD⁺ ions. Currently we are trying to optimize the process of loading HD⁺ and Be⁺ ions into the trap. Furthermore, we are now building up a stabilized laser system for high-resolution spectroscopy of the (ν=0, N=4) - (ν=4, N=4) transition of HD⁺ at 1.4 µm.