Laser-assisted Stark deceleration of polar diatomic molecules in the Χ1Σ state

Abstract

The traditional Stark deceleration method is difficult to apply in chemically stable polar diatomic molecules in their ground (Χ1Σ) state because the Χ1Σ state normally experiences little Stark shift and the rovibronic ground level is mostly high-field-seeking. To solve this problem, we propose a laser-assisted Stark deceleration scheme to decelerate such molecules in the present paper. Our results show that, owing to the transverse bunching effect of the applied red-detuning laser beam, the molecules of the high-field-seeking level |J = 0, M = 0〉 in the Χ1Σ state can be effectively decelerated. Furthermore, the present scheme is more effective because the interaction between the molecules and the combined fields can produce the pseudo-first-order Stark effect, and thus increase the depth of the effective potential. Compared to those molecules in the low-field-seeking state |J = 1, MΩ = −1〉 in the usual electrostatic Stark deceleration, a higher molecular density and lower velocity can be achieved under an equivalent initial phase angle.