A supersonic beam of cold lithium hydride molecules

We have developed a source of cold LiH molecules for Stark deceleration and trapping experiments. Lithium metal is ablated from a solid target into a supersonically expanding carrier gas. The translational, rotational, and vibrational temperatures are 0.9+/-0.1, 5.9+/-0.5, and 468+/-17 K, respectively. Although they have not reached thermal equilibrium with the carrier gas, we estimate that 90% of the LiH molecules are in the ground state, X (1)Sigma(+)(v=0,J=0). With a single 7 ns ablation pulse, the number of molecules in the ground state is 4.5+/-1.8 x 10(7) molecules/sr. A second, delayed, ablation pulse produces another LiH beam in a different part of the same gas pulse, thereby almost doubling the signal. A long pulse, lasting 150 micros, can make the beam up to 15 times more intense.