Phase stability in a multistage Zeeman decelerator

Journal Article · Fri Oct 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.82.043428· OSTI ID:21450817

Wiederkehr, A W; Hogan, S D; Merkt, F ^[1]

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1. Laboratorium fuer Physikalische Chemie, ETH Zuerich, CH-8093 (Switzerland)

The phase stability of a multistage Zeeman decelerator is analyzed by numerical particle-trajectory simulations and experimental measurements. A one-dimensional model of the phase stability in multistage Stark deceleration [Bethlem et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 5744 (2000)] has been adapted to multistage Zeeman deceleration and compared with one- and three-dimensional particle-trajectory simulations, including the analysis of the effect of finite switch-on and -off times of the deceleration pulses. The comparison reveals that transverse effects in the decelerator lead to a considerable reduction of the phase-space acceptance at low values of the phase angle and an enhancement at high values. The optimal combinations of phase angles and currents with which a preset amount of kinetic energy can be removed from atoms and molecules in a pulsed supersonic beam using a multistage decelerator are determined by simulation. Quantitative analysis of the phase-space acceptance within a given volume reveals that for our decelerator (8 {mu}s switch-off time) optimal conditions are achieved for values of the phase angle between 45 deg. and 55 deg. This conclusion is examined and confirmed by experimental measurements using deuterium atoms. Alternative approaches to generate optimal deceleration pulse sequences, such as the implementation of evolutionary algorithms or the use of higher-order modes of the decelerator, are discussed.

• OSTI ID: 21450817
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 82, Issue 4; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.82.043428; (c) 2010 The American Physical Society; ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ACCELERATION
ALGORITHMS
ATOMS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DEUTERIUM
KINETIC ENERGY
MOLECULES
PHASE SPACE
PHASE STABILITY
PULSES
ZEEMAN EFFECT
ENERGY
EVALUATION
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MATHEMATICAL LOGIC
MATHEMATICAL SPACE
NUCLEI
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
SIMULATION
SPACE
STABILITY
STABLE ISOTOPES