STUDYING SURFACES WITH MAGNETICALLY-MANIPULATED ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR BEAMS

In our group we use atomic and molecular beams with the aim of studying the structure and dynamics of surfaces on the atomic scale. In my talk, I will briefly explain what kind of magnetic manipulations we use and what we gain from this approach. Magnetic manipulations on a helium-3 atomic beam allow us to perform atom-interferometry experiments and study atomic-scale motion which takes place on very fast time scales (pico to nano-seconds). In a recent study we exploited this technique to study the influence of an atomic step on the ultra-fast diffusion of an adsorbed atom [1]. We also magnetically manipulate molecular beams. In this case, the manipulations allow us to separate spin isomers. For example, we used this approach to separate ortho and para H₂O molecules[2][3]. One potential application of this molecular beam separation technique is a new spectrometer we are currently working on, an instrument which should enable ultra-sensitive NMR experiments of water surfaces in the near future.

[1] Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters., 2015, 6, 4165 (2015).

[2] Science, 331, 319 (2011)

[3] Physical Review A, 86, 062710 (2012)