Berlin 2014 – scientific programme

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MO: Fachverband Molekülphysik

MO 14: Cold Molecules 2

MO 14.7: Talk

Thursday, March 20, 2014, 12:00–12:15, BEBEL HS213

Hybrid atom-ion trap for sympatheic cooling of OH⁻ ions by a rubidium MOT — •Julian Glässel¹, Bastian Höltkemeier¹, Henry Lopez¹, Pascal Weckesser¹, Thorsten Best², Eric Endres², Roland Wester², and Matthias Weidemüller¹ — ¹Physikalisches Institut, Im Neuenheimer Feld 226, 69120 Heidelberg — ²Institut für Ionenphysik und Angewandte Physik, Technikerstraße 25/3, 6020 Innsbruck

Ultracold molecules can be created either from associating ultracold atoms or by trapping and sympathetically cooling them. We report on the status of a new setup employing a hybrid atom-ion trap that allows to sympathetically cool OH⁻ ions by ultacold rubidium. A wide range of other ion species can also be used, making the setup very versatile.

Our setup consists of an octupole rf-trap of thin wires that has a large field-free region while allowing enough optical access to overlay a magneto optical trap inside. A dark spontaneous force optical trap (darkSPOT) configuration is used to bring most rubidium to the ground state, hence avoiding ion loss by inelastic collisions, as well as allowing higher densities up to 3×10¹¹ atoms/cm³ to enhance the interaction rate. Simulations of ion trajectories inside the ultracold rubidium cloud suggest sympathetic cooling by at least one order of magnitude.