Rostock 2019 – scientific programme
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A: Fachverband Atomphysik
A 32: Collisions, scattering and correlation phenomena
A 32.6: Talk
Thursday, March 14, 2019, 15:30–15:45, S HS 3 Physik
Novel and efficient scheme for the optical quenching of metastable helium in the 21S0 state — •Jiwen Guan, Vivien Behrendt, Pinrui Shen, Simon Hofsäss, Jonas Grzesiak, Frank Stienkemeier, and Katrin Dulitz — Physikalisches Institut, Universität Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Str.3, 79104 Freiburg i. Br.
Metastable helium in the 23S1 state is the longest-lived neutral atomic state and the most energetic metastable state of an atomic species. These characteristics make this species an important source of stored energy in ionospheric and discharge plasmas. Such energetic species are excellent candidates for the study of reactive scattering processes. Recently, we have produced a supersonic beam of metastable He in an electron-seeded discharge. However, the atomic beam also contains He in another metastable state, 21S0, which prevents detailed quantum-state-controlled reactive scattering studies.
In this talk, I will describe the experimental characterization of a new optical quenching scheme which makes it possible to fully deplete the population of He(21S0) via optical excitation to the 41P1 state. The scheme is based on simple and inexpensive diode laser technology which can be implemented in many laboratories in a straightforward manner. I will also show preliminary results on the reactive scattering of He(23S1) with a cloud of stationary, ultracold Li atoms.