A versatile electrostatic trap

A four electrode electrostatic trap geometry is demonstrated that can be used to combine a dipole, quadrupole and hexapole field. A cold packet of 15ND3 molecules is confined in both a purely quadrupolar and hexapolar trapping field and additionally, a dipole field is added to a hexapole field to create either a double-well or a donut-shaped trapping field. The profile of the 15ND3 packet in each of these four trapping potentials is measured, and the dependence of the well-separation and barrier height of the double-well and donut potential on the hexapole and dipole term are discussed.Comment: submitted to pra; 7 pages, 9 figure

An AC electric trap for ground-state molecules

We here report on the realization of an electrodynamic trap, capable of trapping neutral atoms and molecules in both low-field and high-field seeking states. Confinement in three dimensions is achieved by switching between two electric field configurations that have a saddle-point at the center of the trap, i.e., by alternating a focusing and a defocusing force in each direction. AC trapping of 15ND3 molecules is experimentally demonstrated, and the stability of the trap is studied as a function of the switching frequency. A 1 mK sample of 15ND3 molecules in the high-field seeking component of the |J,K>=|1,1> level, the ground-state of para-ammonia, is trapped in a volume of about 1 mm^3

COLD MOLECULES AND SPECTROSCOPY

Author Institution: FRITZ-HABER-INSTITUT DER MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT, FARADAYWEG 4-6, D-14195 BERLIN, GERMANYCold molecules offer fascinating possibilities for novel molecular physics and physical chemistry experiments, such as studying cold collisions or performing high-resolution spectroscopy. Using inhomogeneous electric fields neutral polar molecules can be decelerated to any computer-controlled velocity. The use of state-selected slow molecules can lead to a significantly increased interaction time of the molecules with the electromagnetic radiation in the spectroscopic experiment, resulting in a higher resolution. In this talk we will focus on the deceleration procedure to produce cold molecules and on their prospects for high-resolution (microwave) spectroscopy [1]. %% references \def\refname{} \begin{thebibliography}{9} \small \bibitem{Paper1} J. van Veldhoven, J. Kupper, H.L. Bethlem, B. Sartakov, A.J.A. van Roij, G. Meijer Phys. \textit{Eur. Phys. J. D} 31, 337-349 (2004). \end{thebibliography

Microstructured switchable mirror for polar molecules

Contains fulltext : 98889.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Trapping polar molecules in an ac trap

Contains fulltext : 98852.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access