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Updated: Aug 5, 2026

Spatial Separation of Molecular Conformers and Clusters
Published on: January 9, 2014
High-flux beam source for cold, slow atoms or molecules
S E Maxwell1, N Brahms, R deCarvalho
1Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
Abstract:
We demonstrate and characterize a high-flux beam source for cold, slow atoms or molecules. The desired species is vaporized using laser ablation, then cooled by thermalization in a cryogenic cell of buffer gas. The beam is formed by particles exiting a hole in the buffer gas cell. We characterize the properties of the beam (flux, forward velocity, temperature) for both an atom (Na) and a molecule (PbO) under varying buffer gas density, and discuss conditions for optimizing these beam parameters. Our source compares favorably to existing techniques of beam formation, for a variety of applications.
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