Electrostatic extraction of cold molecules from a cryogenic reservoir

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 th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPhysical review letters Vol. 102; no. 3; p. 033001
Main Authors van Buuren, L D, Sommer, C, Motsch, M, Pohle, S, Schenk, M, Bayerl, J, Pinkse, P W H, Rempe, G
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 23.01.2009
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Summary: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 the source produces fluxes up to (7+/- 4(7)) x 10(10) molecules/s with peak densities up to (1.0+/- 0.6(1.0)) x 10(9) molecules/cm3. For H2CO the population of rovibrational states is monitored by depletion spectroscopy, resulting in single-state populations up to (82+/-10)%.
ISSN:0031-9007
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.102.033001