Hannover 2010 – scientific programme
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MO: Fachverband Molekülphysik
MO 6: Cold Molecules I
MO 6.3: Talk
Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 14:45–15:00, F 142
A Molecular Synchrotron — •Peter C. Zieger1, Cynthia E. Heiner1, André J. A. van Roij2, Hendrick L. Bethlem3, Sebastiaan Y. T. van de Meerakker1, and Gerard Meijer1 — 1Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Faradayweg 4-6, 14195 Berlin, Germany — 2Radboud University, Toernooiveld 1, 6525 ED, Nijmegen, The Netherlands — 3Laser Centre Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1081, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
It has been shown that with the so-called Stark decelerator it is possible to produce a beam of cold neutral polar molecules with a tunable velocity that are well suited for molecular beam scattering studies. One can load these beams into a molecular synchrotron; this offers particularly interesting prospects for these kinds of scattering experiments. In principle, a storage ring allows for the confinement of multiple packets of molecules in a circle that repeatedly interact, significantly increasing the sensitivity of molecular collision experiments.
We will present a version of a molecular synchrotron that consists of 40 straight hexapoles, that allows for the simultaneous confinement of 20 molecular packets moving clockwise and 20 packets moving counter clockwise. We will explain the operation principle of the synchrotron and present our latest experiment, where a molecular packet is confined over a flight length of one kilometer. Recently, we have also demonstrated the simultaneous storage of multiple packets, moving in the same direction in the ring. Currently a second Stark decelerator beamline is being constructed to enable the injection of multiple counter-propagating packets in the synchrotron.