Stopping supersonic beams with a series of pulsed electromagnetic coils: an atomic coilgun.
We report the stopping of an atomic beam, using a series of pulsed electromagnetic coils. We use a supersonic beam of metastable neon created in a gas discharge as a monochromatic source of paramagnetic atoms. A series of coils is fired in a timed sequence to bring the atoms to near rest, where they are detected on a microchannel plate. Applications to fundamental problems in physics and chemistry are discussed.
Narevicius
Edvardas
E
Center for Nonlinear Dynamics and Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1081, USA.
Libson
Adam
A
Parthey
Christian G
CG
Chavez
Isaac
I
Narevicius
Julia
J
Even
Uzi
U
Raizen
Mark G
MG