title: Ultra-precise particle velocities in pulsed supersonic beams.
abstract: We describe an improved experimental method for the generation of cold, directed particle bunches, and the highly accurate determination of their velocities in a pulsed supersonic beam, allowing for high-resolution experiments of atoms, molecules, and clusters. It is characterized by a pulsed high pressure jet source with high brilliance and optimum repeatability, a flight distance of few metres that can be varied with a tolerance of setting of 50 μm, and a precision in the mean flight time of particles of better than 10(-4). The technique achieves unmatched accuracies in particle velocities and kinetic energies and also permits the reliable determination of enthalpy changes with very high precision.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Chemie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Brook-Taylor-Straße 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany. christen@wolfgang-christen.net
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Christen