Quadrupolelike electrostatic guiding for cold polar molecules

We demonstrate electrostatic guiding of cold heavy water (D2O) molecules over a distance of 44.5 cm by using a quadrupolelike electrostatic field, which is generated by the combination of two parallel charged poles and two grounded metal plates. We measure the transverse spatial distribution of the guided D2O molecular beam and study the dependence of the relative guiding efficiency and the transverse temperature of the guided molecular beam on the guiding voltage. Our study shows that the maximum guiding efficiency of similar to 50% can be obtained, and our experimental results are in good agreement with ones of theoretical calculation and Monte Carlo simulations, and this guiding scheme has some potential applications in molecule optics, such as molecular-beam splitter, integrated molecular optics, etc. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.