Dynamics of translational and rotational thermalization of AlF molecules via collisions with cryogenic helium

Abstract

We investigated helium-mediated translational and rotational thermalization of the aluminum monofluoride (AlF) molecule at cryogenic temperatures via a new ab initio potential energy surface (PES) and quantum multichannel scattering theory. Our examination of the elastic and rotationally inelastic channels revealed that helium is an efficient quencher of AlF at temperatures relevant to buffer gas cooling experiments (∼ 1 mK to 10 K). We also showed that this conclusion is robust against possible inaccuracies of the PES.