Metastable aluminium atoms floating on the surface of helium nanodroplets
Metal atoms have proved to be sensitive probes of the properties of superfluid helium nanodroplets. To date, all experiments on the doping of helium droplets have concentrated on the attachment of metal atoms in their ground electronic states. Here we report the first examples of metal atoms in exci...
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| Format: | Article |
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American Physical Society
2015
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32080/ |
| _version_ | 1848794330979893248 |
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| author | Jeffs, Jay Besley, Nicholas A. Stace, Anthony J. Sarma, Gautam Cunningham, Ethan M. Boatwright, Adrian Wang, Shengfu Ellis, Andrew M. |
| author_facet | Jeffs, Jay Besley, Nicholas A. Stace, Anthony J. Sarma, Gautam Cunningham, Ethan M. Boatwright, Adrian Wang, Shengfu Ellis, Andrew M. |
| author_sort | Jeffs, Jay |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Metal atoms have proved to be sensitive probes of the properties of superfluid helium nanodroplets. To date, all experiments on the doping of helium droplets have concentrated on the attachment of metal atoms in their ground electronic states. Here we report the first examples of metal atoms in excited states becoming attached to helium nanodroplets. The atoms in question are aluminium and they have been generated by laser ablation in a metastable quartet state, which attaches to and remains on the surface of helium droplets. Evidence for a surface location comes from electronic spectra, which consist of very narrow absorption profiles that show very small spectral shifts. Supporting ab initio calculations show there to be an energy incentive for a metastable Al atom to remain on the surface of a helium droplet rather than move to the interior. The results suggest that helium droplets may provide a method for the capture and transport of metastable excited atomic and molecular species. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:14:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-32080 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:14:29Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-320802020-05-04T17:10:51Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32080/ Metastable aluminium atoms floating on the surface of helium nanodroplets Jeffs, Jay Besley, Nicholas A. Stace, Anthony J. Sarma, Gautam Cunningham, Ethan M. Boatwright, Adrian Wang, Shengfu Ellis, Andrew M. Metal atoms have proved to be sensitive probes of the properties of superfluid helium nanodroplets. To date, all experiments on the doping of helium droplets have concentrated on the attachment of metal atoms in their ground electronic states. Here we report the first examples of metal atoms in excited states becoming attached to helium nanodroplets. The atoms in question are aluminium and they have been generated by laser ablation in a metastable quartet state, which attaches to and remains on the surface of helium droplets. Evidence for a surface location comes from electronic spectra, which consist of very narrow absorption profiles that show very small spectral shifts. Supporting ab initio calculations show there to be an energy incentive for a metastable Al atom to remain on the surface of a helium droplet rather than move to the interior. The results suggest that helium droplets may provide a method for the capture and transport of metastable excited atomic and molecular species. American Physical Society 2015-06-12 Article PeerReviewed Jeffs, Jay, Besley, Nicholas A., Stace, Anthony J., Sarma, Gautam, Cunningham, Ethan M., Boatwright, Adrian, Wang, Shengfu and Ellis, Andrew M. (2015) Metastable aluminium atoms floating on the surface of helium nanodroplets. Physical Review Letters, 114 (23). 233401/1-233401/5. ISSN 1079-7114 Helium nanodroplets http://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.233401 doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.233401 doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.233401 |
| spellingShingle | Helium nanodroplets Jeffs, Jay Besley, Nicholas A. Stace, Anthony J. Sarma, Gautam Cunningham, Ethan M. Boatwright, Adrian Wang, Shengfu Ellis, Andrew M. Metastable aluminium atoms floating on the surface of helium nanodroplets |
| title | Metastable aluminium atoms floating on the surface of helium nanodroplets |
| title_full | Metastable aluminium atoms floating on the surface of helium nanodroplets |
| title_fullStr | Metastable aluminium atoms floating on the surface of helium nanodroplets |
| title_full_unstemmed | Metastable aluminium atoms floating on the surface of helium nanodroplets |
| title_short | Metastable aluminium atoms floating on the surface of helium nanodroplets |
| title_sort | metastable aluminium atoms floating on the surface of helium nanodroplets |
| topic | Helium nanodroplets |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32080/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32080/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32080/ |