The recent progress in the generation of translationally cold molecules and molecular ions in the gas phase has enabled the study of collisional and chemical processes in a new physical regime.
To unravel the fine details of the ultralow-temperature chemical dynamics, it is necessary to precisely control the translational energy and internal quantum state of the collision partners. In the presentation we discuss novel approaches for the preparation of quantum-state selected, translationally cold molecular ions in ion traps using N2+ as a test system. We also highlight recent results on cold reactive collisions between molecular ions and neutral species and discuss our current efforts to extend these experiments to studies of fully state-selected ion-neutral collisions at even lower energies.
C.N.R.S./Laboratoire AIME COTTON,
Bâtiment 505,
Campus d’Orsay 91405 - ORSAY Cedex
Téléphone : 01.69.35.20.00 - Fax : 01.69.35.21.00
