Production of translationally cold barium monohalide ions

TL;DR

This paper reports a method to produce and cool barium monohalide ions BaX$^+$ (X = F, Cl, Br) via reactions with neutral halogen molecules, with measured reaction rates aligning with classical models, advancing molecular ion control.

Contribution

The study introduces a straightforward technique to generate sympathetically cooled BaX$^+$ ions, expanding tools for molecular ion research.

Findings

Reaction rates for BaX$^+$ production measured and match classical models.

Produced ions are suitable for cooling to rovibrational ground state.

Method offers a simple approach to generate polar molecular ions.

Abstract

We have produced sympathetically cooled barium monohalide ions BaX$^+$ (X = F, Cl, Br) by reacting trapped, laser cooled Ba$^+$ ions with room temperature gas phase neutral halogen-containing molecules. Reaction rates for two of these (SF$_6$ and CH$_3$Cl) have been measured and are in agreement with classical models. BaX$^+$ ions are promising candidates for cooling to the rovibrational ground state, and our method presents a straightforward way to produce these polar molecular ions.