Freiburg 2024 – scientific programme
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 24: Poster II
Q 24.1: Poster
Tuesday, March 12, 2024, 17:00–19:00, KG I Foyer
Spectroscopy of Heteronuclear Xenon-Noble Gas Dimers - Towards Bose-Einstein Condensation of VUV-Photons — •Eric Boltersdorf, Thilo vom Hövel, Jeremy Andrew Morín Nenoff, Frank Vewinger, and Martin Weitz — University of Bonn, Institute for Applied Physics, 53115 Bonn
Photons confined in a dye-filled optical microcavity can exhibit Bose-Einstein condensation upon thermalization through repeated absorption and (re-)emission processes by the dye molecules. This has been experimentally demonstrated for photons in the visible spectral regime in 2010. In this work, an experimental approach is investigated to realize Bose-Einstein condensation of vacuum-ultraviolet (100 nm-200 nm; VUV) photons via repeated absorption and (re-)emission cycles between two electronic state manifolds of xenon-noble gas excimer molecules in dense gaseous ensembles (pressure of up to 100 bar).
(Re-)emission and absorption to achieve thermalization are considered to occur between the quasi-molecular states associated with the xenon 5p6 and 5p56s(J = 1) states, respectively. We plan to pump the photon gas inside a high-pressure optical microcavity with light at near 129 nm wavelength, which can be generated by third-harmonic generation of near-ultraviolet light around 387 nm. The pump drives the 5p6 →5p56s′(J = 1) transition in xenon. We report on the results of spectroscopic measurements, indicating the formation of heteronuclear noble gas excimers. Also, the fulfillment of the thermodynamic Kennard-Stepanov relation, a fundamental prerequisite for a gas to serve as a thermalization medium, has been successfully investigated.
Keywords: Bose-Einstein Condensation; photon gas; spectroscopy; vacuum-ultraviolet; high pressure