Collision experiments with Stark-decelerated beams

Abstract

The crossed molecular beam technique has been established as a mature and important experimental method for detailed studies of molecular interactions, and has contributed enormously to our present understanding of molecular reaction dynamics. The Stark deceleration technique yields unprecedented control over both the internal and external degrees of freedom of polar molecules in a molecular beam, offering new possibilities in scattering experiments. In particular, Stark-decelerated molecular beams allow detailed molecular scattering studies as a function of the collision energy, from low to high collision energies, and with a very high energy resolution. We discuss a variety of experimental geometries that exploit this new molecular beam technology for scattering experiments, ranging from crossed beam arrangements and molecular synchrotrons to surface scattering set-ups.