Towards dipolar collisions between magnetically trapped OH and buffer gas cooled ND$_{3}$
ORAL
Abstract
Cold molecule research has been progressing at a rapid pace with many new and exciting topics being developed. The long range dipole-dipole interaction between cold polar molecules allows us to exquisitely control their collisional dynamics using an external electric field. We have successfully trapped Stark decelerated OH molecules in a permanent magnetic trap at a temperature of $70$ $mK$ and a density of $10^{6}$ $cm^{-3}$. We have also developed a cold, bright continuous beam of polar molecules by buffer gas cooling and electrostatically guiding ND$_{3}$. This yields a flux of $10^{10}$ molecules per second at a temperature of $\sim$ $5$ $K$. Harnessing these two techniques, we report progress towards the observation of collisions between these two dipolar species. Furthermore, we investigate the tuning of the collision cross sections via a variable external electric field superposed on the magnetic trap.
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