Coherent control mechanisms of Penning and associative ionization in cold He$^*({2}^3\text{S})$-He$^*({2}^3\text{S})$ reactive scattering

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how quantum interference can be used to control Penning and associative ionization in cold helium atom collisions, allowing for enhancement or suppression of reaction cross sections.

Contribution

It introduces a method to manipulate ionization processes in cold collisions through quantum interference of molecular states, achieving up to 30% enhancement.

Findings

Enhanced ionization ratio by 30% in cold regime

Controlled Penning and associative ionization via quantum interference

Potential for coherent control of reactions in ultracold gases

Abstract

We explore coherent control of Penning and associative ionization in cold collisions of metastable He$^*({2}^3\text{S})$ atoms via the quantum interference between different states of the He$_2^*$ collision complex. By tuning the preparation coefficients of the initial atomic spin states, we can benefit from the quantum interference between molecular channels to maximize or minimize the cross sections for Penning and associative ionization. In particular, we find that we can enhance the ionization ratio by 30% in the cold regime. This work is significant for the coherent control of chemical reactions in the cold and ultracold regime.