Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help
Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 34: Cold Molecules II
Q 34.4: Talk
Wednesday, March 16, 2011, 15:15–15:30, BAR Schön
Multistage Zeeman Deceleration of Metastable Neon — •Michael Motsch, Alex W. Wiederkehr, Stephen D. Hogan, and Frédéric Merkt — Laboratorium für Physikalische Chemie, ETH Zürich, CH-8093, Switzerland
Multistage Zeeman deceleration exploits the interaction between paramagnetic atoms or molecules and pulsed magnetic fields to slow a supersonic beam of these particles in a phase-stable manner. We start by exciting Ne atoms to the metastable 3P2 state with a DC discharge in the expansion region behind a pulsed gas nozzle. Using 91 deceleration solenoids, we slow Ne* atoms to velocities as low as 120 m/s, thereby removing up to 95 % of the initial kinetic energy. We characterize the cold sample of Ne* atoms with a time-of-flight technique, investigate the efficiency of the deceleration process, and discuss the possibility to extend the technique to other species.