Abstract
We propose a method to produce, in a pulsed or continuous way, cold samples of highly polar molecules. Using a pulsed or continuous standard (supersonic) beam of these molecules, our idea consists of transforming the molecules into their anionic counterparts, which are decelerated to a standstill by a well-controlled external electric field and ultimately neutralized. The neutral-to-anion transformation occurs through collisions with Rydberg atoms coming from an additional atomic beam. This Rydberg electron transfer process is possible provided that the molecular species has a sufficiently strong electric dipole ( D, i.e., cm). Whatever the mass of the species, the deceleration stage is realized by a temporally and spatially controlled electric field within a range of less than one centimeter, which is much shorter than in current deceleration experiments of neutral molecules. Once stopped, the molecular anions are neutralized by laser photodetachment or a pulsed electric field process. The resulting molecules might be held and accumulated, for instance, in a magnetic trap.
Highlights
The number of methods for producing cold molecules has grown, none of them is simple and universal
The goal of this article is to present a deceleration method that should be quite universal for highly polar molecules
A fast, neutral molecular beam—such as that produced using He seeded gas in a supersonic expansion—will remain almost identical especially with a beam temperature that is almost unchanged when transformed into its anionic counterpart by Rydberg electron transfer
Summary
The number of methods for producing cold molecules has grown, none of them is simple and universal. Other interesting methods that produce anions at energy as low as 1 meV are laser photoelectron attachment in a molecular supersonic beam or irradiation of neutral molecules by synchronizing laser and electron pulses, as considered in [17]. The high formation rates indicate that a supersonic or cryogenic beam of highly polar molecules lying in their low rovibrational states can be efficiently transformed into anions, thanks to a charge exchange process. A fast, neutral molecular beam—such as that produced using He seeded gas in a supersonic expansion—will remain almost identical especially with a beam temperature that is almost unchanged when transformed into its anionic counterpart by Rydberg electron transfer
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