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Atomic and molecular collision processes are the physical interactions of atoms and molecules when they are brought into close contact with each other and with electrons, protons, neutrons or ions. This includes energy-conserving elastic scattering and inelastic scattering. Such collisions are an important probe of the structure and properties of matter.
Molecular ions and hybrid platforms that integrate cold trapped ions and neutral particles offer opportunities for many quantum technologies. This Review surveys recent methodological advances and highlights in the study of cold molecular ions.
Confining atoms to lattices can modify their interaction and collision. Here the authors show suppression of dipolar relaxation in the form of reduced decay rate of dysprosium atoms in quasi-2D regime.
A new binding mechanism between trapped laser-cooled ions and atoms has been observed. This advancement offers a novel control knob over chemical reactions and inelastic processes on the single particle limit.
The collective dynamics observed between Bose-condensed atoms and molecules indicate the occurence of macroscopic quantum phenomena. Experimental investigations found that the atomic and molecular populations oscillate at a frequency that scales with the sample size, providing evidence for bosonic enhancement. These findings could make many-body quantum dynamics accessible in ultracold molecule research.
Noble gas nuclear spins can store quantum information for hours but are hard to control. Creating a large coherent coupling to an alkali vapour gives a route to manipulating the collective nuclear spin of a helium-3 gas.
Controlling chemistry at the single-collision level is one of the main goals of experiments at ultralow temperatures. A method based on quantum logic techniques has now been shown to detect inelastic collisions in a hybrid ion–atom platform.
Cooling of trapped ions with a neutral buffer gas makes the study of atom–ion hybrid systems possible in the quantum regime. The new record low achieved opens the door to numerous opportunities, including full control over the atom–ion interactions.
Knowing which atomic, molecular and optical physics computer code to use and how is a challenge. Andrew Brown surveys the available software packages and discusses how code development practices in academia could be improved.
