Cold neutral atoms via charge exchange from excited state positronium: a proposal

We present a method for generating cold neutral atoms via charge exchange reactions between trapped ions and Rydberg positronium. The high charge exchange reaction cross section leads to efficient neutralisation of the ions and since the positronium-ion mass ratio is small, the neutrals do not gain...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:New journal of physics 2017-05, Vol.19 (5), p.53020
Main Authors: Bertsche, W A, Charlton, M, Eriksson, S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Charge exchange
Cold
cold atoms
Electromagnetic fields
ion trapping
Ions
Kinetic energy
laser cooling
Low temperature
Magnetic moments
Neutral atoms
Physics
Positronium
positrons
Rydberg atoms
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Summary:We present a method for generating cold neutral atoms via charge exchange reactions between trapped ions and Rydberg positronium. The high charge exchange reaction cross section leads to efficient neutralisation of the ions and since the positronium-ion mass ratio is small, the neutrals do not gain appreciable kinetic energy in the process. When the original ions are cold the reaction produces neutrals that can be trapped or further manipulated with electromagnetic fields. Because a wide range of species can be targeted we envisage that our scheme may enable experiments at low temperature that have been hitherto intractable due to a lack of cooling methods. We present an estimate for achievable temperatures, neutral number and density in an experiment where the neutrals are formed at a milli-Kelvin temperature from either directly or sympathetically cooled ions confined on an ion chip. The neutrals may then be confined by their magnetic moment in a co-located magnetic minimum well also formed on the chip. We discuss general experimental requirements.
ISSN:1367-2630
1367-2630
DOI:10.1088/1367-2630/aa6bb8