Research Projects

Assembly of Ultracold Molecules

This project aims at the creation of a quantum degenerate gas of dipolar NaK molecules and the experimental investigation of novel phenomena both looking at the physics of strongly correlated systems and the study of chemical processes in the ultracold realm.

Direct Laser Cooling of Molecules

Our experiment aims for the production of an ultracold gas of diatomic molecules by means of buffer gas cooling and direct laser cooling.

Quantum Chemistry

Our project explores chemical reactions in the quantum regime. We use a quantum-state selective ion imaging technique to detect quantum chemical reaction pathways in collisions of ultracold ground-state molecules.

Molecular Spectroscopy

We create diatomics from group IA and IIA elements and analyze their structure. We use spectra of absorption and thermal emission as well as laser-induced fluorescences to derive potential energy curves of the molecule under study applicable for modeling ultra cold collisions.

Secondary Frequency Standard

The experiments on iodine molecules have led to the development of a versatile secondary frequency standard based on the precisely known iodine spectrum: Detailed analysis of I2 spectra and data from literature allowed to develop physical models, which allow to simulate the entire visible and near-infrared spectrum. Such spectra, recorded along with experimental spectra of e.g. another molecule, can be used to derive a frequency scale with a precision of  few MHz in certain spectral region.