https://doi.org/10.1007/s100530050333
Measurement of the Majorana effect in a molecule using a switched magnetic field and quantum beat detection
Physikalisch-Chemisches Institut der Universität Zürich,
Winterthurerstr. 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
Received:
4
February
1999
Published online: 15 July 1999
By means of quantum beat spectroscopy we investigated the dynamics
of magnetic moments associated with hyperfine levels in the molecule
under "spin-flip conditions". Oriented molecules
in a cold beam were prepared by
excitation with a circularly polarized laser pulse (
)
in a weak magnetic field (
). Subsequently, they were
exposed to a rapid field inversion which left the magnetic moment in
its initial orientation. The initially created coherences
among the excited hf levels were conserved after field
reversal and thus were explored to characterize the changes in the level
structure due to this "Majorana spin-flip" process.
PACS: 42.50.Md – Optical transient phenomena: quantum beats, photon echo, free-induction decay, dephasings and revivals, optical nutation, and self-induced transparency / 33.55.Be – Zeeman and Stark effects / 32.80.Qk – Coherent control of atomic interactions with photons
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 1999
