Measurement of the Low-Energy Rb + –Rb Total Collision Rate in an Ion-Neutral Hybrid Trap
Shuang-Fei Lv, Feng-Dong Jia, Jinyun Liu +3 more
An ion–neutral hybrid trap is built to study low-energy ion–atom collisions. The ion–neutral hybrid trap is combined with two spatially concentric traps: a linear Paul trap for the ionic species and a magneto-optical trap (MOT) for the neutral species. The total ion–atom collision rate coefficient between 87 Rb atoms and optically dark 87 Rb + ions is measured by monitoring the reduction of the steady-state MOT atoms by sequentially introducing various mechanisms, namely photoionization and ion–atom collisions. In contrast to other experiments, a concise experimental procedure is devised to obtain the loss rates of the MOT atoms due to photoionization and ion–atom collisions in one experimental cycle, and then the collision rate of cold 87 Rb atoms with 87 Rb + ions is deduced to m 3 / s with K measured by the time of flight of the ion signal. The measurements show good agreement with the collision rate derived from the Langevin model.
Chinese Physics Letters•Jan 1, 2017•7 citations