Eur. Phys. J. D 31, 403-408 (2004)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2004-00152-9

Photo-dissociation of Cold MgH⁺ ions

Towards rotational temperature measurements and controlled dissociation

¹ QUANTOP, Danish National Research Foundation Center for Quantum Optics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Aarhus, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
² The Fritz Haber Research Center for Molecular Dynamics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel

Corresponding author: ^a drewsen@phys.au.dk

Received: 26 July 2004
Revised: 30 August 2004
Published online: 23 November 2004

Abstract

Molecular ions sympathetically cooled into a Coulomb crystal by laser cooled atomic ions represent in many ways an ideal target for molecular physics studies due to achievable low translational temperatures (~10 mK) and strong spatial localization (1 μm). In particular, in experiments with focused laser beams, both these features can be extremely useful. Here, we present results from experiments on photo-dissociation of MgH⁺ ions in Coulomb crystals, and discuss possible avenues for using such processes for rotational temperature measurements as well as for manipulating the branching ratio of the dissociation channels Mg+H⁺ and Mg⁺+H through intensity and frequency control of the laser beams involved.