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Science

Tracking a trio of rubidium atoms

Jake Yeston

Published Nov 16, 2017• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Chemical Physics
Crossed molecular beams have provided decades' worth of knowledge into how quantum mechanics governs chemical reactivity. Nonetheless, the technique is generally limited to the collision of two partners. Wolf et al. report on a three-body process with full quantum state resolution.
DOI
10.1126/science.358.6365.882-p

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Light-assisted reactive collisions between laser-cooled Ba+ ions and Rb atoms were studied in an ion–atom hybrid trap. The reaction rate was found to strongly depend on the electronic state of the reaction partners with the largest rate constant [7(2) × 10−11 cm3 s−1] obtained for the excited Ba+(6s)+Rb(5p) reaction channel. Similar to the previously studied Ca++Rb system, charge transfer and radiative association were found to be the dominant reactive processes. The generation of molecular ions by radiative association could directly be observed by their sympathetic cooling into a Coulomb crystal. Potential energy curves up to the Ba+(6s)+Rb(5p) asymptote and reactive-scattering cross sections for the radiative processes were calculated. The theoretical rate constant obtained for the lowest reaction channel Ba+(6s)+Rb(5s) is compatible with the experimental estimates obtained thus far.
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