Magnetic trapping of cold methyl radicals

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

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.118.093201

Magnetic trapping of cold methyl radicals

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

Authors

Y. Liu

M. Vashishta

P. Djuricanin

S. Zhou

W. Zhong

T. Mittertreiner

Dr David Carty david.carty@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

T. Momose

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

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