International Conference on Atomic Physics (ICAP)

Buffer-gas Loading and Magnetic Trapping of Molecules

John M. Doyle

Published Apr 1, 2003• 0 citations

Abstract

Ultracold and cold molecules have enormous potential for yielding a wealth of new physics and new technologies. Molecules possess several features that greatly increase the possibilities for new interactions, collective quantum states and effects, collisional processes, fundamental symmetry tests and chemical processes. This is due to 1) the strong interactions between the dipole moments of polar molecules, 2) the rotational and vibrational internal structure of all molecules, and 3) the easily orientable internal electric field of many molecules. The promise of cold and ultracold molecules will only be realized when samples can be prepared with at least the same ease in which we now prepare atomic samples. Several approaches towards trapping of molecules, the key first step toward studying ultracold molecules at high density, have already succeeded: direct cooling of molecules via a buffer gas, mechanical slowing of a pulsed molecular beam with electric fields and photoassociation of alkali atoms. In the ICAP 2002 session on molecules I described some of the current theoretical results and predictions about ultracold molecular systems. Profs. Meijer and Heinzen described results on pulsed beam slowing and photoassociation. This contribution describes some of the key results on buffer-gas loading of molecules. A.

DOI: 10.1142/9789812705099_0020

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