Magnetic trapping of SH radicals

• Published in: Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP Vol. 19; no. 12; pp. 8423 - 8427
• Main Authors: Eardley, J. S, Warner, N, Deng, L. Z, Carty, D, Wrede, E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 28.03.2017
• ISSN: 1463-9076; 1463-9084
• DOI: 10.1039/c7cp00458c

Magnetic trapping of SH radicals, produced via the photostop technique, has been demonstrated. H 2 S in a skimmed, supersonic molecular beam was photodissociated at 212.8 nm to produce SH inside a 330 mK deep static magnetic trap. The molecular-beam speed was controlled by the mixing ratio of H 2 S in Kr to match the recoil velocity of the SH photofragments such that some SH radicals were produced with near-zero laboratory-frame velocity. The density of SH radicals in the 2 Π 3/2 , v = 0, J = 3/2 state was followed by (2 + 1) REMPI over seven orders of magnitude of signal intensity. 5 ms after photodissociation, SH radicals moving faster than the capture velocity of 13 m s −1 had left the trap. The 1/ e trap lifetime of the remaining SH radicals was 40 ± 10 ms at an estimated density of 5 × 10 4 molecules per cm 3 . Photostop offers a simple and direct way to accumulate absolute ground state molecules in a variety of traps. Magnetic trapping of SH radicals, produced via the photostop technique, has been demonstrated.