Magnetic trapping of cold methyl radicals

Liu, Y.; Vashishta, M.; Djuricanin, P.; Zhou, S.; Zhong, W.; Mittertreiner, T.; Carty, D.; Momose, T.

Abstract

We have demonstrated that a supersonic beam of methyl radicals (CH3) in the ground rotational state of both para and ortho species has been slowed down to standstill with a magnetic molecular decelerator, and successfully captured spatially in an anti-Helmholtz magnetic trap for > 1 s. The trapped CH3 radicals have a mean translational temperature of about 200 mK with an estimated density of > 5.0×107 cm−3 . The methyl radical is an ideal system for the study of cold molecules not only because of its high reactivities at low temperatures, but also because further cooling below 1 mK is plausible via sympathetic cooling with ultracold atoms. The demonstrated trapping capability of methyl radicals opens up various possibilities for realizing ultracold ensembles of molecules towards Bose-Einstein condensation of polyatomic molecules and investigations of reactions governed by quantum statistics.

Citation

Liu, Y., Vashishta, M., Djuricanin, P., Zhou, S., Zhong, W., Mittertreiner, T., …Momose, T. (2017). Magnetic trapping of cold methyl radicals. Physical Review Letters, 118(9), Article 093201. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.118.093201

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 27, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Feb 27, 2017
• Publication Date: Mar 3, 2017
• Deposit Date: Feb 28, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 28, 2017
• Journal: Physical Review Letters
• Print ISSN: 0031-9007
• Electronic ISSN: 1079-7114
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 118
• Issue: 9
• Article Number: 093201
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.118.093201
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1384375