26 research outputs found
Controlling the quantum stereodynamics of ultracold bimolecular reactions
Chemical reaction rates often depend strongly on stereodynamics, namely the
orientation and movement of molecules in three-dimensional space. An ultracold
molecular gas, with a temperature below 1 uK, provides a highly unusual regime
for chemistry, where polar molecules can easily be oriented using an external
electric field and where, moreover, the motion of two colliding molecules is
strictly quantized. Recently, atom-exchange reactions were observed in a
trapped ultracold gas of KRb molecules. In an external electric field, these
exothermic and barrierless bimolecular reactions, KRb+KRb -> K2+Rb2, occur at a
rate that rises steeply with increasing dipole moment. Here we show that the
quantum stereodynamics of the ultracold collisions can be exploited to suppress
the bimolecular chemical reaction rate by nearly two orders of magnitude. We
use an optical lattice trap to confine the fermionic polar molecules in a
quasi-two-dimensional, pancake-like geometry, with the dipoles oriented along
the tight confinement direction. With the combination of sufficiently tight
confinement and Fermi statistics of the molecules, two polar molecules can
approach each other only in a "side-by-side" collision, where the chemical
reaction rate is suppressed by the repulsive dipole-dipole interaction. We show
that the suppression of the bimolecular reaction rate requires quantum-state
control of both the internal and external degrees of freedom of the molecules.
The suppression of chemical reactions for polar molecules in a
quasi-two-dimensional trap opens the way for investigation of a dipolar
molecular quantum gas. Because of the strong, long-range character of the
dipole-dipole interactions, such a gas brings fundamentally new abilities to
quantum-gas-based studies of strongly correlated many-body physics, where
quantum phase transitions and new states of matter can emerge.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figure
Josephson Coupling and Fiske Dynamics in Ferromagnetic Tunnel Junctions
We report on the fabrication of Nb/AlO_x/Pd_{0.82}Ni_{0.18}/Nb
superconductor/insulator/ferromagnetic metal/superconductor (SIFS) Josephson
junctions with high critical current densities, large normal resistance times
area products, high quality factors, and very good spatial uniformity. For
these junctions a transition from 0- to \pi-coupling is observed for a
thickness d_F ~ 6 nm of the ferromagnetic Pd_{0.82}Ni_{0.18} interlayer. The
magnetic field dependence of the \pi-coupled junctions demonstrates good
spatial homogeneity of the tunneling barrier and ferromagnetic interlayer.
Magnetic characterization shows that the Pd_{0.82}Ni_{0.18} has an out-of-plane
anisotropy and large saturation magnetization, indicating negligible dead
layers at the interfaces. A careful analysis of Fiske modes provides
information on the junction quality factor and the relevant damping mechanisms
up to about 400 GHz. Whereas losses due to quasiparticle tunneling dominate at
low frequencies, the damping is dominated by the finite surface resistance of
the junction electrodes at high frequencies. High quality factors of up to 30
around 200 GHz have been achieved. Our analysis shows that the fabricated
junctions are promising for applications in superconducting quantum circuits or
quantum tunneling experiments.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure
Quasiparticle lifetimes and tunneling times in an SS'IS''S tunnel junction detector
a tunnel junction detector with artificial trapping layers, S' and S", near the tunnel barrier can be described as an SS'IS"S structure. Gap reduction takes place in S due to the proximity effect with the S' (S") layer. Effective trapping, excitation and tunneling rates of the reduced gap region in the junction are calculated as a function of the operating temperature and junction bias voltage on the basis of a microscopic model of the proximity effect in the SS' sandwich. The calculations are done under the assumption that the thickness of the S' layer ds' is small compared to its coherence length ξs' and dirty limit conditions are fulfilled for both the S and S' metals. The limits of applicability of these approximations are discussed by calculating corrections to the space dependence of the order parameter in S and S' due to a) finite thickness ds' of the S' layer and b) for large mean free path ls,s' in the S and S' layers
Differential cross sections for collisions of hexapole state-selected NO with He
The first measurements of differential inelastic collision cross sections of fully state-selected NO (j=12, Ω- =12, ε=-1) with He are presented. Full state selection is achieved by a 2 m long hexapole, which allows for a systematic study of the effect of parity conservation and breaking on the differential cross section. The collisionally excited NO molecules are detected using a resonant (1+ 1′) REMPI ionization scheme in combination with the velocity-mapped, ion-imaging technique. The current experimental configuration minimizes the contribution of noncolliding NO molecules in other rotational states j, Ω-, ε -that contaminates images- and allows for study of the collision process at an unprecedented level of detail. A simple method to correct ion images for collision-induced alignment is presented as well and its performance is demonstrated. The present results show a significant difference between differential cross sections for scattering into the upper and lower component of the Λ -doublet of NO. This result cannot be due to the energy splitting between these components. © 2005 American Institute of Physics
Photoelectron angular distributions from the ionization of xenon Rydberg states by midinfrared radiation
Angle-resolved photoelectron spectra, resulting from the strong-field ionization of atoms or molecules, carry a rich amount of information on ionization pathways, electron dynamics, and the target structure. We have investigated angle-resolved photoelectron spectra arising from the nonresonant ionization of xenon Rydberg atoms in the multiphoton regime, using intense midinfrared radiation from a free-electron laser. The experimental data reveal a rich oscillatory structure in the low-order above-threshold ionization region. By performing quantum-mechanical and semiclassical calculations, the observed oscillations could be well reproduced and explained by both a multiphoton absorption picture as by a model invoking electron wave-packet interferences. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the shape and orientation of the initial Rydberg state leaves its own fingerprint on the final angular distribution. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.87.03341