Journal article

Publication year: 1999

Pages: 1143-1180

Journal: Reports on Progress in Physics

Volume number: 62

Issue number: 7

ISSN: 0034-4885

eISSN: 1361-6633

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1088/0034-4885/62/7/202

Publisher: IOP Publishing

Abstract: 
The merged-beams technique is powerful for the experimental study of certain classes of atomic and molecular processes that cannot be as readily or accurately addressed by other methods. The principal advantages of the technique are the ability to make quantitative studies of collisional interactions with high resolution at low relative energies, to collect products that have undergone appreciable angular scattering, and to investigate processes involving short-lived or chemically-reactive species. Despite continuing advances in ion-source and particle-beam technologies, merged-beams experiments remain a challenge, constituting a relatively small but growing fraction of the worldwide effort in atomic and molecular collisions research. This review outlines the fundamental principles of the merged-beams method, reviews techniques and progress, and focuses on three active programs to highlight the advantages of the method for addressing fundamental questions in atomic and molecular physics.

Harvard Citation style: Phaneuf, R., Havener, C., Dunn, G. and Müller, A. (1999) Merged-beams experiments in atomic and molecular physics, Reports on Progress in Physics, 62(7), pp. 1143-1180. https://doi.org/10.1088/0034-4885/62/7/202

APA Citation style: Phaneuf, R., Havener, C., Dunn, G., & Müller, A. (1999). Merged-beams experiments in atomic and molecular physics. Reports on Progress in Physics. 62(7), 1143-1180. https://doi.org/10.1088/0034-4885/62/7/202