A neutral atom-molecular ion collider: progress towards state-to-state resolution in a chemical reaction

In our recent experiment [1], we demonstrated a scheme to prepare AlH$^{+}$ molecules in a single quantum state. This new development opens up new possibilities to study chemical reactions with state-to-state resolution. Moving towards this new direction, we designed an experimental apparatus to study reactive interactions between neutral Rb atoms and AlH$^{+}$ molecules. Our hybrid machine consists of a Rb MOT and a spatially separated AlH$^{+}$ ion trap. A translatable dipole trap will be used to bring the Rb atoms to interact with the trapped AlH$^{+}$ molecules and will allow us to accurately control the collisional energies. Here we report our progress on building this experimental apparatus. \\[4pt] [1] C.-Y. Lien, C.S. Seck, Y.-W. Lin, J.H.V. Nguyen, D.A. Tabor, and B.C. Odom. Nat. Commun. 5, 4783 (2014).