Trapping polar molecules in an ac trap

Abstract

3 ammonia molecules in a cylindrically symmetric ac trap is demonstrated. We present measurements of the spatial distribution of the trapped cloud as a function of the settings of the trap and compare these to both a simple model assuming a linear force and to full three-dimensional simulations of the experiment. With the optimal settings, molecules within a phase-space volume of 270 mm 3 m/s 3 remain trapped. This corresponds to a trap depth of about 5 mK and a trap volume of about 20 mm 3 .