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Molecular Physics

Experimental and theoretical studies of the effects of collisions and magnetic fields on quantum beat

Chia-Hao Chang, Cheng‐Liang Huang, Chi‐Kung Ni, Hai‐Lung Dai, Michitoshi Hayashi, Kuo Kan Liang, Andy H. Kung, I. C. Chen, S. H. Lin

Published Apr 20, 2002• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The effects of collisions and magnetic fields on quantum beat are treated by the density matrix method. Some experimental quantum beat results of biacetyl in the presence of collisions are presented and theoretically analysed. It is shown that in this case not only pure dephasing but also pressure dependent inherent decay rate constants can be observed; this implies that the Schrödinger method cannot be employed for this case. The magnetic field effect on quantum beat is examined also and it is shown that for the biacetyl molecule magnetic splitting can be observed even in fields of a few gauss.

DOI
10.1080/00268970110113560

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The effects of collisions and magnetic fields on quantum beat are treated by the density matrix method. Some experimental quantum beat results of biacetyl in the presence of collisions are presented and theoretically analysed. It is shown that in this case not only pure dephasing but also pressure dependent inherent decay rate constants can be observed; this implies that the Schrödinger method cannot be employed for this case. The magnetic field effect on quantum beat is examined also and it is shown that for the biacetyl molecule magnetic splitting can be observed even in fields of a few gauss.
We develop a theory of quantum beats in molecular fluorescence taking into account collision effects (such as pure dephasing due to elastic collision) without invoking the Markoff approximation. Model calculations of the time dependent fluorescence from molecules with two excited levels are performed in order to see how the non-Markoffian character in the collision process exerts influence upon the quantum beat pattern. It is suggested that if the pure dephasing between the excited states is a Markoffian ‘‘the degree of modulation of the beats’’ decreases exponentially with time; if it is in the static limit the degree of modulation of the beats decreases as a Gaussian function (the non-Markoffian behavior in the quantum beats). A given case can be classified as either Markoffian or non-Markoffian, depending on the relative magnitudes of the collision duration time τc, the beat frequency ω, and the coupling strength v which is characteristic of the pure dephasing process. The Markoff approximation holds only if the condition ω<v<1/τc is satisfied; the non-Markoffian behavior appears in the quantum beat pattern when ω>v, even if v2τ2c<1 .
This tutorial chapter provides an introduction to the vibrant field of cold molecular collisions in the presence of external electromagnetic fields. The kinetic energy of molecules confined in electromagnetic traps is small compared to their interactions with external fields, so the influence of molecule -field interactions on molecular collisions at ultralow temperatures can no longer be neglected or treated perturbatively. The intricate topology of spin-dependent, multidimensional intermolecular interactions makes it necessary to use accurate, non-perturbative quantum scattering techniques for solving the Schrodinger equation for molecules colliding in the presence of external fields. The primary goal of this chapter is to provide an overview of multichannel quantum scattering theory of molecular collisions in external fields, with a focus on rigorous coupled-channel methodology applied to molecules of current experimental interest. We also present an overview of the mechanisms for controlling elastic and inelastic molecular collisions with external magnetic fields.
Based on the master equation approach, an expression for the time dependent fluorescence intensity has been derived taking into account both collision effects resulting from the elastic and inelastic scattering from the heat bath and the statistical properties of the incident light. The degree of coherence for the molecular eigenstates is defined. The pure dephasing constant between the excited states attenuates the degree of coherence for the molecular eigenstates during and after the light pulse duration; on the other hand, the pure dephasing between the ground and excited states attenuates it during the pulse duration. A separable nonstationary correlation function for the incident radiation field is introduced to investigate the effects of the field coherence on the time dependent fluorescence. Model calculations of the quantum beats in the fluorescence from molecules with two levels in the excited state in the weak radiation field have been performed to demonstrate the effects of the dephasing constants and the field coherence as well as those of the population decay constants.
We present an accurate quantum mechanical study of molecule–molecule collisions in the presence of a magnetic field. The work focuses on the analysis of elastic scattering and spin relaxation in collisions of O 2 ( 3 Σ g – ) molecules at cold (∼0.1 K) and ultracold (∼10 –6 K) temperatures. Our calculations show that magnetic spin relaxation in molecule–molecule collisions is extremely efficient except at magnetic fields below 1 mT. The rate constant for spin relaxation at T =0.1 K and a magnetic field of 0.1 T is found to be as large as 6.1 × 10 –11 cm –3 s –1 . The magnetic field dependence of elastic and inelastic scattering cross sections at ultracold temperatures is dominated by a manifold of Feshbach resonances with the density of ∼100 resonances per Tesla for collisions of molecules in the absolute ground state. This suggests that the scattering length of ultracold molecules in the absolute ground state can be effectively tuned in a very wide range of magnetic fields. Our calculations demonstrate that the number and properties of the magnetic Feshbach resonances are dramatically different for molecules in the absolute ground and excited spin states. The density of Feshbach resonances for molecule–molecule scattering in the low-field-seeking Zeeman state is reduced by a factor of 10.
A full density-matrix theory for quantum beats in optical transmission-correlation or pump-probe type of experiments is developed. The model used is a three-level system with split excited-state levels. It is demonstrated on the basis of perturbation theory that quantum beats should be observable in such experiments. Theoretical and numerical results are compared with the complex details, including damped sinusoidal decays, observed in recent femtosecond relaxation studies of large organic dye molecules. It is also shown that there is no separately identifiable decay component corresponding to any homogeneous or inhomogeneous optical dephasing time in such experiments. Similar beating should also be observable in ultrafast spectroscopy using incoherent light and in Raman-type energy-level configurations where the ground state contains split levels.
We investigate the collisional stability of magnetically trapped ultracold molecules, taking into account the influence of magnetic fields. We compute elastic and spin-state-changing inelastic rate constants for collisions of the prototype molecule 17O2{}^{17}{\mathrm{O}}_{2}17O2​ with a 3He{}^{3}\mathrm{He}3He buffer gas as a function of the magnetic field and the translational collision energy. We find that spin-state-changing collisions are suppressed by Wigner's threshold laws as long as the asymptotic Zeeman splitting between incident and final states does not exceed the height of the centrifugal barrier in the exit channel. In addition, we propose a useful one-parameter fitting formula that describes the threshold behavior of the inelastic rates as a function of the field and collision energy. Results show a semiquantitative agreement of this formula with the full quantum calculations, and suggest useful applications also to different systems. As an example, we predict the low-energy rate constants relevant to evaporative cooling of molecular oxygen.