Slowing polar molecules using a wire Stark decelerator

TL;DR

This paper introduces a compact wire Stark decelerator for ultrahigh vacuum, capable of significantly reducing the kinetic energy of metastable CO molecules, with potential applications in molecular physics.

Contribution

The authors designed and implemented a novel wire electrode Stark decelerator that is substantially smaller yet effective for ultrahigh vacuum molecular deceleration.

Findings

Removed over 90% of kinetic energy from metastable CO molecules

Decelerator is approximately 10 times smaller than conventional designs

Successfully demonstrated ultrahigh vacuum compatibility

Abstract

We have designed and implemented a new Stark decelerator based on wire electrodes, which is suitable for ultrahigh vacuum applications. The 100 deceleration stages are fashioned out of 0.6 mm diameter tantalum and the array's total length is 110 mm, approximately 10 times smaller than a conventional Stark decelerator with the same number of electrode pairs. Using the wire decelerator, we have removed more than 90% of the kinetic energy from metastable CO molecules in a beam.