Slowing Continuous Molecular Beams in a Rotating Spiral

Developments of the past decades in cold-atom physics have motivated molecular physicists to also venture into temperature domains below 1 kelvin [1, 2]. Inherently, molecular interactions are more complex than those between atoms, and the study of cold molecules opens up a plethora of new research areas in, e.g., quantum computation or molecular spectroscopy and scattering. However, the complexity of molecules presents a challenge for cold-molecule production because some of the main techniques for atom slowing and cooling—based on laser interactions—are not easily adapted. A new technique may help in this endeavor by using a spinning centrifuge to slow down a continuous beam of molecules. As described in Physical Review Letters[3], electric fields guide polar molecules through a spiral-shaped track that rotates around an axis. This continuous decelerator for molecules may be coupled to other devices to produce cold-molecule samples, as well as molecular beams with tunable velocities.