Design and Characterization of a New Pulsed Molecular-Beam Valve

摘要

A common technique for producing samples of cold molecules that can be trapped and studied is electromagnetic deceleration of a fast moving, but internally cold, supersonic beam. The quality of these samples, which are ideally as cold and dense as possible, is fundamentally limited by the quality of the beam coupled to the decelerator. This thesis outlines the design, construction, and characterization of a new pulsed valve that produces samples of molecules as short as fifty microseconds.