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Slow molecular beams from a cryogenic buffer gas source

A. D. White, S. Popa, J. Mellado-Muñoz, N. J. Fitch*, B. E. Sauer, J. Lim, and M. R. Tarbutt†

  • *Present address: Infleqtion, 3030 Sterling Cir. Boulder CO 80301, USA.
  • †Contact author: m.tarbutt@imperial.ac.uk
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Phys. Rev. Research 6, 043232 – Published 3 December, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.043232

Abstract

We study the properties of a cryogenic buffer gas source that uses a low-temperature two-stage buffer gas cell to produce very slow beams of ytterbium monofluoride molecules. The molecules are produced by laser ablation inside the cell and extracted into a beam by a flow of cold helium. We measure the flux and velocity distribution of the beam as a function of ablation energy, helium flow rate, cell temperature, and the size of the gap between the first and second stages of the cell. We also compare the velocity distributions from one-stage and two-stage cells. The one-stage cell emits a beam with a speed of about 82ms−1 and a translational temperature of 0.63 K. The slowest beams are obtained using the two-stage cell at the lowest achievable cell temperature of 1.8 K. This beam has a peak velocity of 56ms−1 and a flux of 9×109 ground-state molecules per steradian per pulse, with a substantial fraction at speeds below 40ms−1. These slow molecules can be decelerated further by radiation pressure slowing and then captured in a magneto-optical trap.

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Phys. Rev. Research 6, 043232– Published 3 December, 2024
  • Received 3 August 2024
  • Accepted 17 November 2024
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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