Positronium in the 2 3 S metastable state exhibits a low electrical polarizability and a long lifetime (1140 ns), making it a promising candidate for interferometry experiments with a neutral matter-antimatter system. In the present work, 2 3 S positronium is produced, in the absence of an electric field, via spontaneous radiative decay from the 3 3 P level populated with a 205-nm UV laser pulse. Thanks to the short temporal length of the pulse, 1.5 ns full width at half maximum, different velocity populations of a positronium cloud emitted from a nanochanneled positron-positronium converter were selected by delaying the excitation pulse with respect to the production instant. 2 3 S positronium atoms with velocity tuned between 7 × 10 4 ms −1 and 10 × 10 4 ms −1 were thus produced. Depending on the selected velocity, a 2 3 S production efficiency ranging from ∼0.8% to ∼1.7%, with respect to the total amount of emitted positronium, was obtained. The observed results give a branching ratio for the 3 3 P-2 3 S spontaneous decay of (9.7 ± 2.7)%. The present velocity selection technique could allow one to produce an almost monochromatic beam of ∼1 × 10 3 2 3 S atoms with a velocity spread of <10 4 ms −1 and an angular divergence of ∼50 mrad.
Velocity-selected production of 2S3 metastable positronium / Amsler, C.; Antonello, M.; Belov, A.; Bonomi, G.; Brusa, R. S.; Caccia, M.; Camper, A.; Caravita, R.; Castelli, F.; Cerchiari, G.; Comparat, D.; Consolati, G.; Demetrio, A.; Di Noto, L.; Doser, M.; Fanì, M.; Gerber, S.; Gligorova, A.; Guatieri, F.; Hackstock, P.; Haider, S.; Hinterberger, A.; Holmestad, H.; Kellerbauer, A.; Khalidova, O.; Krasnický, D.; Lagomarsino, V.; Lansonneur, P.; Lebrun, P.; Malbrunot, C.; Mariazzi, S.; Matveev, V.; Müller, S. R.; Nebbia, G.; Nedelec, P.; Oberthaler, M.; Pagano, D.; Penasa, L.; Petracek, V.; Prelz, F.; Prevedelli, M.; Rienaecker, B.; Robert, J.; Røhne, O. M.; Rotondi, A.; Sandaker, H.; Santoro, R.; Smestad, L.; Sorrentino, F.; Testera, G.; Tietje, I. C.; Widmann, E.; Yzombard, P.; Zimmer, C.; Zurlo, N.. - In: PHYSICAL REVIEW A. - ISSN 2469-9926. - STAMPA. - 99:(2019), pp. 033405.1-033405.6. [10.1103/PhysRevA.99.033405]
Velocity-selected production of 2S3 metastable positronium
Prevedelli, M.;
2019
Abstract
Positronium in the 2 3 S metastable state exhibits a low electrical polarizability and a long lifetime (1140 ns), making it a promising candidate for interferometry experiments with a neutral matter-antimatter system. In the present work, 2 3 S positronium is produced, in the absence of an electric field, via spontaneous radiative decay from the 3 3 P level populated with a 205-nm UV laser pulse. Thanks to the short temporal length of the pulse, 1.5 ns full width at half maximum, different velocity populations of a positronium cloud emitted from a nanochanneled positron-positronium converter were selected by delaying the excitation pulse with respect to the production instant. 2 3 S positronium atoms with velocity tuned between 7 × 10 4 ms −1 and 10 × 10 4 ms −1 were thus produced. Depending on the selected velocity, a 2 3 S production efficiency ranging from ∼0.8% to ∼1.7%, with respect to the total amount of emitted positronium, was obtained. The observed results give a branching ratio for the 3 3 P-2 3 S spontaneous decay of (9.7 ± 2.7)%. The present velocity selection technique could allow one to produce an almost monochromatic beam of ∼1 × 10 3 2 3 S atoms with a velocity spread of <10 4 ms −1 and an angular divergence of ∼50 mrad.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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