Investigation of Ultracold Chemical Reactions in a Hybrid System of Laser-Cooled Atoms and Ions

Abstract

The atom-ion hybrid system provides a new platform to study ultracold collisions and chemical reactions. To investigate chemical reactions in ultracold regimes, we combine neutral atoms in an optical trap and ions in a Paul trap to construct an atom-ion hybrid system. Here we introduce our recent work on ultracold elastic/inelastic collisions at a single atom level with a state-by-state manner. From quantitative discussions on the collision’s cross-sections, we clarified the microscopic collisional mechanisms.