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arXiv:physics/0209041 · Physical Review A

Continuous source of translationally cold dipolar molecules

S. A. Rangwala, T. Junglen, T. Rieger, Pepijn W. H. Pinkse, Gerhard Rempe

Published Apr 17, 2003• 210 citations
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Abstract

The Stark interaction of polar molecules with an inhomogeneous electric field is exploited to select slow molecules from a room-temperature reservoir and guide them into an ultrahigh vacuum chamber. A linear electrostatic quadrupole with a curved section selects molecules with small transverse and longitudinal velocities. The source is tested with formaldehyde $({\mathrm{H}}_{2}\mathrm{CO})$ and deuterated ammonia $({\mathrm{ND}}_{3}).$ With ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}\mathrm{CO}$ a continuous flux is measured of $\ensuremath{\approx}{10}^{9}/\mathrm{s}$ and a longitudinal temperature of a few kelvin. The data are compared with the result of a Monte Carlo simulation.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.67.043406

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Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics•Jan 1, 2016•9 citations
The Stark interaction of polar molecules with an inhomogeneous electric field is exploited to select slow molecules from a room-temperature reservoir and guide them into an ultrahigh vacuum chamber. A linear electrostatic quadrupole with a curved section selects molecules with small transverse and longitudinal velocities. The source is tested with formaldehyde (H2CO)({\mathrm{H}}_{2}\mathrm{CO})(H2​CO) and deuterated ammonia (ND3).({\mathrm{ND}}_{3}).(ND3​). With H2CO{\mathrm{H}}_{2}\mathrm{CO}H2​CO a continuous flux is measured of \ensuremath≈109/s\ensuremath{\approx}{10}^{9}/\mathrm{s}\ensuremath≈109/s and a longitudinal temperature of a few kelvin. The data are compared with the result of a Monte Carlo simulation.
The interaction of polar molecules with an inhomogeneous, electrostatic field to filter molecules from an effusive room-temperature source is exploited to create a slow molecule beam. Whether a dipolar molecule is trapped in or expelled from the electric field minimum depends on the orientation of the molecular dipole with respect to the electric field. These molecules are called low and high-field seekers, respectively. Thus, an electric field configuration with a field minimum on axis acts as a 2-dimensional trap for low-field seeking molecules with small transverse velocity components. A linear quadrupolar is opted, which is one of the simplest suitable geometries. The longitudinal velocity is limited by a bent section, where the centripetal force due to the radius of curvature and electric field gradient guide only the slowest molecules around the bend.
Slow molecules are efficiently extracted from a thermal reservoir by exploiting the interaction between polar molecules and the field provided by an electrostatic quadrupole guide. Electrostatic velocity filtering is widely applicable, which is demonstrated by producing guided beams of ammonia ND3, formaldehyde H2CO, and the water isotopologs H2O, D2O, and HDO. Ultraviolet depletion spectroscopy in a cold guided beam of formaldehyde makes the population in individual rotational states visible and testifies their key role in velocity filtering. Enhanced Rayleigh scattering into an optical cavity is investigated as an alternative non-destructive detection method for cold molecules. For various room-temperature gases, the observed enhancement is well described by interference of electromagnetic fields scattered into the resonator by a classical driven dipole oscillator.
A continuously operated electrostatic trap for polar molecules is demonstrated. The trap has a volume of $\ensuremath{\approx}0.6\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{cm}}^{3}$ and holds molecules with a positive Stark shift. With deuterated ammonia from a quadrupole velocity filter, a trap density of $\ensuremath{\approx}{10}^{8}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ is achieved with an average lifetime of 130 ms and a motional temperature of $\ensuremath{\approx}300\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{mK}$. The trap offers good starting conditions for high-precision measurements, and can be used as a first stage in cooling schemes for molecules and as a ``reaction vessel'' in cold chemistry.
We present a method which delivers a continuous, high-density beam of slow and internally cold polar molecules. In our source, warm molecules are first cooled by collisions with a cryogenic helium buffer gas. Cold molecules are then extracted by means of an electrostatic quadrupole guide. For ND3{\mathrm{ND}}_{3}ND3​ the source produces fluxes up to $(7{\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}_{4}^{7})\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{10}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{\text{molecules}}/\mathrm{s}$ with peak densities up to $(1.0{\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}_{0.6}^{1.0})\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{9}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{\text{molecules}}/{\mathrm{cm}}^{3}$. For H2CO{\mathrm{H}}_{2}\mathrm{CO}H2​CO the population of rovibrational states is monitored by depletion spectroscopy, resulting in single-state populations up to $(82\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}10)%$.
This thesis reports on the combination of buffer-gas cooling with electric velocity filtering to produce a high-density guided beam of slow and internally cold polar molecules. In the continuous source, warm molecules are first cooled by collisions with a cryogenic helium buffer gas. Cold molecules are then extracted by means of an electric quadrupole guide. For formaldehyde the population of individual rotational states in the guide is monitored by depletion spectroscopy, resulting in single-state populations up to 82 %. This thesis also reports on a technique to produce pulses of slow guided molecules. The pulses exhibit a narrow velocity distribution around a tunable velocity.
To meet some demands for realizing precise measurements of an electric dipole moment of electron (eEDM) and examining cold collisions or cold chemical physics, we have proposed a novel, versatile electrostatic Stark decelerator with an array of true 3D electric potential wells, which are created by a series of horizontally-oriented, U-shaped electrodes with time-sequence controlling high voltages (± HV) and two guiding electrodes with a constant voltage. We have calculated the 2D electric field distribution, the Stark shifts of the four lowest rotational sub-levels of PbF molecules in the X1(2)Π1/2(v = 0) electronic and vibrational ground states as well as the population in the different rotational levels. We have discussed the 2D longitudinal and transverse phase-space acceptances of PbF molecules in our decelerator. Subsequently, we have simulated the dynamic processes of the decelerated PbF molecules using the 3D Monte-Carlo method, and have found that a supersonic PbF beam with a velocity of 300 m s(-1) can be efficiently slowed to about 5 m s(-1), which will greatly enhance the sensitivities to research a parity violation and measure an eEDM. In addition, we have investigated the dependences of the longitudinal velocity spread, longitudinal temperature and bunching efficiency on both the number of guiding stages and high voltages, and found that after bunching, a cold packet of PbF molecules in the J = 7/2, MΩ = -7/4 state with a longitudinal velocity spread of 0.69 m s(-1) (corresponding to a longitudinal temperature of 2.35 mK) will be produced by our high-efficient decelerator, which will generate a high energy-resolution molecular beam for studying cold collision physics. Finally, our novel decelerator can also be used to efficiently slow NO molecules with a tiny electric dipole moment (EDM) of 0.16 D from 315 m s(-1) to 28 m s(-1). It is clear that our proposed new decelerator has a good slowing performance and experimental feasibility as well as wide applications in the field of precise measurements and cold molecule physics.