INVITATION
to a TALK by
Prof. Vitaly Kresin
Department of Physics & Astronomy
University of Southern California, Los Angeles
Electric and magnetic deflection of molecules and clusters carried within superfluid helium nanodroplets
Monday, October 23rd 2023, 16:30 h
Location: Erwin Schrödinger Lecture Hall, 5th floor, Boltzmanngasse 5
Hosted by: Markus Arndt
Abstract:
Heavy helium nanodroplets doped with polar molecules and molecular clusters can be strongly deflected by an external electric field. The intense deflecting force derives from the fact that within the cryogenically cold superfluid matrix, the embedded dipoles become vibration-free and almost completely field-oriented.
A deflection measurement can provide direct, model-free information about the presence and magnitude of permanent dipole moments and thereby about the structure of molecular assemblies formed inside the nanodroplet. The technique is quite general and can be applied to molecules of varying size and complexity. Recently we extended the measurements to Stern-Gerlach-type magnetic deflections of nanodroplets carrying dopants with magnetic moments. One-sided deflections reveal that electronic spins can undergo relaxation and thermalization even within nonmagnetic liquid helium.
