Cold Collisions in a Molecular Synchrotron

Aernout P. P. van der Poel, Peter C. Zieger, Sebastiaan Y. T. van de Meerakker, Jérôme Loreau, Ad van der Avoird, and Hendrick L. Bethlem
Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 033402 – Published 16 January 2018
PDFHTMLExport Citation

Abstract

We study collisions between neutral, deuterated ammonia molecules (ND3) stored in a 50 cm diameter synchrotron and argon atoms in copropagating supersonic beams. The advantages of using a synchrotron in collision studies are twofold: (i) By storing ammonia molecules many round-trips, the sensitivity to collisions is greatly enhanced; (ii) the collision partners move in the same direction as the stored molecules, resulting in low collision energies. We tune the collision energy in three different ways: by varying the velocity of the stored ammonia packets, by varying the temperature of the pulsed valve that releases the argon atoms, and by varying the timing between the supersonic argon beam and the stored ammonia packets. These give consistent results. We determine the relative, total, integrated cross section for ND3+Ar collisions in the energy range of 40140  cm1, with a resolution of 510  cm1 and an uncertainty of 7%–15%. Our measurements are in good agreement with theoretical scattering calculations.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Received 30 June 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.033402

© 2018 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Atomic, Molecular & Optical

Authors & Affiliations

Aernout P. P. van der Poel1, Peter C. Zieger1,2, Sebastiaan Y. T. van de Meerakker3, Jérôme Loreau4, Ad van der Avoird3, and Hendrick L. Bethlem1

  • 1LaserLaB, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1081, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • 2Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Faradayweg 4-6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
  • 3Radboud University, Institute for Molecules and Materials, Heijendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
  • 4Service de Chimie Quantique et Photophysique, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) CP 160/09, 50 avenue F.D. Roosevelt, 1050 Brussels, Belgium

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

Supplemental Material (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 120, Iss. 3 — 19 January 2018

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review Letters

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×