SAMOP 2023 – scientific programme
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 37: Collisions (with Q) (joint session MO/Q)
Q 37.7: Talk
Wednesday, March 8, 2023, 16:00–16:15, F142
Electric-field-controlled dipolar collisions between trapped polyatomic molecules — •Florian Jung, Manuel Koller, Jindaratsamee Phrompao, Martin Zeppenfeld, Isabel M. Rabey, and Gerhard Rempe — Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Strasse 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
Polar symmetric top molecules exhibit a permanent electric dipole moment which creates strong anisotropic interactions, and allows them to be manipulated with moderate electric fields. This, together with their multitude of internal states, renders them promising for applications in e.g. quantum information processing or cold chemistry. For these applications reaching high-density low-temperature ensembles is imperative. This requires the capability to control collisional losses, which is a challenging task.
By combining a cryogenic buffer-gas cell with a centrifuge decelerator and an electrostatic trap, we can now confine up to 2×107 CH3F molecules at a temperature of ∼350 mK for several seconds, achieving densities of up to 107/cm3, which allows for the observation of collisions [1]. We employ a homogeneous control field, covering a large fraction of our trap to mitigate collisional losses and obtain inelastic loss coefficients below 4×10−8cm3/s. An ab-initio theory shows excellent agreement with our experiment and highlights dipolar relaxation as the major loss mechanism. These findings are immediately relevant for cold molecular collision studies and an important step towards the observation of re-thermalisation between polyatomic molecules.
[1] M. Koller et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 203401 (2022).