Sandia National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA.
J Chem Phys. 2010 Mar 21;132(11):110901. doi: 10.1063/1.3357286.
There is great interest in the production of cold molecules, at temperatures below 1 K, and ultracold molecules, at temperatures below 1 mK. Such molecules have potential applications in areas ranging from precision measurement to quantum information storage and processing, and quantum gases of ultracold polar molecules are expected to exhibit novel quantum phases. In addition, cold molecules open up a new domain for collision physics, dominated by long-range forces and scattering resonances. There have been major recent advances both in cooling molecules from room temperature and in forming molecules in ultracold atomic gases. As these techniques mature, and cold and ultracold samples are more accessible, collision studies at previously unavailable energies will be possible. This spotlight article will highlight some of the background and motivation for studying collisions at low energies and will direct readers to recent articles on the recent experimental advancements.
人们对 1 K 以下的冷分子和 1 mK 以下的超冷分子的制备产生了浓厚的兴趣。这些分子在从精密测量到量子信息存储和处理等领域都有潜在的应用，而且超冷极性分子量子气体预计将呈现出新颖的量子相。此外，冷分子为碰撞物理开辟了一个新的领域，其中主要由长程力和散射共振控制。近年来，从室温冷却分子和在超冷原子气体中形成分子方面都取得了重大进展。随着这些技术的成熟以及冷和超冷样品更易获取，以前无法达到的能量下的碰撞研究将成为可能。这篇专题文章将重点介绍一些在低能量下研究碰撞的背景和动机，并为读者提供最近关于实验进展的文章。
