Abstract
An important physical process unique to neutral-ion systems is the charge-transfer reaction. Here, we present measurements of and models for charge-transfer processes between cotrapped ultracold Ca atoms and Yb ions under well-controlled conditions. The theoretical analysis suggests the existence of three reaction mechanisms when lasers from a magneto-optical trap and an additional catalyst laser are present. We show that the near-degeneracy of the excited and asymptotic limits leads to large charge-transfer rate coefficients that can be controlled by changing the frequency of the catalyst laser and the ion temperature. Our model agrees with experimental rate-coefficient measurements between 50 mK and 1 K, with and without the catalyst laser, using just a single free parameter.
- Received 8 January 2019
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.99.062706
©2019 American Physical Society