Control of the motion of neutral molecules and atoms by a beam of electrons

Yoshihiro Yamakita

Simon R. Procter, Yoshihiro Yamakita, Frédéric Merkt +1 more

V. I. Balykin, Vladilen S Letokhov, Vladimir G. Minogin

We consider various methods (longitudinal and transverse cooling, focusing and reflection) of controlling the motion of atoms in a beam in a resonant laser field by means of the dissipative force of laser light pressure and the potential gradient force which are required to realize various types of optical traps for slow neutral atoms. We anticipate the extension of these methods for molecules in the future.

Thomas C. Weinacht

M. Hamamda, P. Pillet, Hans Lignier +1 more

We propose a method to produce, in a pulsed or continuous way, cold samples of highly polar molecules. Using a pulsed or continuous standard (supersonic) beam of these molecules, our idea consists of transforming the molecules into their anionic counterparts, which are decelerated to a standstill by a well-controlled external electric field and ultimately neutralized. The neutral-to-anion transformation occurs through collisions with Rydberg atoms coming from an additional atomic beam. This Rydberg electron transfer process is possible provided that the molecular species has a sufficiently strong electric dipole ( D, i.e., cm). Whatever the mass of the species, the deceleration stage is realized by a temporally and spatially controlled electric field within a range of less than one centimeter, which is much shorter than in current deceleration experiments of neutral molecules. Once stopped, the molecular anions are neutralized by laser photodetachment or a pulsed electric field process. The resulting molecules might be held and accumulated, for instance, in a magnetic trap.

Dominik Schulz, A. Thakur, A. S. Moskalenko +1 more

Single neutral atom mechanics is controllable by focused, high‐intensity optical vortices. The intensity‐dependent, laser‐driven motion of the atom's active electrons subsumes to a net transfer of the orbital angular momentum of the light to the neutral atom. The ponderomotive force on these electrons translates so into an unbounded or a bounded radial drift of the atom depending on its initial kinetic energy, as set by the temperature. Appropriate combination of laser beams results in sub‐wavelength, dynamical radial traps for tweezing atoms controllably, an effect that can be exploited for atom guiding, structuring, and lithographic applications. image