3D-Printed Beam Splitter for Polar Neutral Molecules

Abstract

We describe a macroscopic beam splitter for polar neutral molecules. A complex electrode structure is required for the beam splitter which would be very difficult to produce with traditional manufacturing methods. Instead, we make use of a nascent manufacturing technique: 3D printing of a plastic piece, followed by electroplating. This fabrication method opens a plethora of avenues for research, since 3D printing imposes practically no limitations on possible shapes, and the plating produces chemically robust, conductive construction elements with an almost free choice of surface material; it has the added advantage of dramatically reduced production cost and time. Our beam splitter is an electrostatic hexapole guide that smoothly transforms into two bent quadrupoles. We demonstrate the correct functioning of this device by separating a supersonic molecular beam of ND 3 into two correlated fractions. It is shown that this device can be used to implement experiments with differential detection wherein one of the fractions serves as a probe and the other as a reference. Reverse operation would allow to merging of two beams of neutral polar molecules.

Combining Ultrahigh-Resolution Ion-Mobility Spectrometry with Cryogenic Infrared Spectroscopy for the Analysis of Glycan Mixtures

“…The ion guides and funnels used in the ion-mobility region of the setup consist of 3D-printed material (Formlabs, United States) that was subsequently coated with nickel to provide a robust, single-piece solution with electrically conductive surfaces. 51 The guides preceding and following the SLIM device consist of a ring-electrode design with a morphed inner shape to match both the rectangular geometry of the SLIM structure and the circular geometry of the conductance limits, as shown in Figure 1(b). Similarly, a symmetric, 3D-printed ring-electrode guide, as well as two hexapoles of conventional geometry, direct the ions through the two subsequent differentially pumped regions with pressures 10 −2 and 10 −5 mbar, respectively.…”

Experimental progress in positronium laser physics

“…An alternative scheme would be to use a guided beam of atoms (e.g. [635]) and produce a merged beam experiment, as has been done with, for example, neutral beams of polar molecules [636,637]. In this way it would be possible to better match the projectile and target speeds, which would significantly enhance the cross sections, compensating for the reduced densities.…”

Experimental demonstration of a Rydberg-atom beam splitter

“…With applications of this kind in mind we report here the experimental demonstration of a Rydberg-atom beam splitter, the operation of which relies upon the generation of carefully tailored inhomogeneous electric field distributions above two-dimensional arrays of metallic electrodes. This device complements recently developed chip-based electron beam splitters [28], and beam splitters for polar ground state molecules composed of twodimensional [29] and three-dimensional electrode structures [30].…”