Silke Ospelkaus-Schwarzer
Alma materUniversity of Hamburg
University of Bonn
Scientific career
InstitutionsMax Planck Institute of Quantum Optics
JILA
NIST
University of Colorado Boulder
University of Hanover
ThesisQuantum degenerate Fermi-Bose mixtures of 40K and 87Rb in 3D-optical lattices (2007)

Silke Ospelkaus-Schwarzer is a German experimental physicist who studies ultra-cold molecular materials at the University of Hanover Institute of Quantum Optics. She was awarded a European Research Council Consolidator Award in 2022.

Early life and education

Ospelkaus studied physics at the University of Bonn.[1][2] She moved to the University of Hamburg for her doctoral research, where she studied Fermi-Bose mixtures of potassium and rubidium in optical lattices.[3][4] She was awarded the doctoral prize of the German Physical Society.[5] She moved to the JILA and the National Institute of Standards and Technology at the University of Colorado Boulder.[2][6][7][8]

Research and career

In 2009, Ospelkaus returned to Germany, where she was made a group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics. She investigates the behaviour of atomic and molecular gases at ultra-cold temperatures.[9] In particular, ultra-cold molecular gases offer hope to better understand chemical processes.[10][5] She has investigated two species atomic quantum gases mixtures, from which she can prepare polar molecules in a degenerate state.

By cooling hot samples of sodium and potassium, Ospelkaus is able to study exotic phenomena such as hyperfine ro-vibrational electronic interactions. She first combines Zeeman slowing with two-dimensional magneto-optical trapping, and once the atoms are cooled below the Doppler limit, loads them into a magnetic quadrupole trap.[11] At this stage, microwave evaporation cools the sodium, which results in the sympathetic cooling of potassium. At ≈ 10µK, interactions between the sodium and magnesium become increasingly strong, and further cooling demands more sophisticated tools. These include magnetic Feshbach resonance.[11][7]

Ospelkaus has demonstrated laser cooling to study diatomic molecules.[10][12] She achieves this cooling using direct laser cooling and buffer gas cooling.[13] Ultra-cold molecules are essentially stationary, which allows for their structure-property relationships to be studied at ultra-high precision. Dense gases of these molecules exhibit quantum behaviour, which allows for investigations into superconductivity.[13]

Ospelkaus uses molecular spectroscopy to understand the quantum states of alkali metal – alkaline earth metal atomic gases.[14] In 2022, she was awarded a European Research Council consolidator grant.[15]

Selected publications

  • K-K Ni; S Ospelkaus; M H G de Miranda; et al. (18 September 2008). "A high phase-space-density gas of polar molecules". Science. 322 (5899): 231–235. arXiv:0808.2963. doi:10.1126/SCIENCE.1163861. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 18801969. Wikidata Q33370512.
  • S Ospelkaus; K-K Ni; D Wang; et al. (1 February 2010). "Quantum-state controlled chemical reactions of ultracold potassium-rubidium molecules". Science. 327 (5967): 853–857. arXiv:0912.3854. doi:10.1126/SCIENCE.1184121. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 20150499. Wikidata Q59476983.
  • K-K Ni; S Ospelkaus; D Wang; et al. (1 April 2010). "Dipolar collisions of polar molecules in the quantum regime". Nature. 464 (7293): 1324–1328. arXiv:1001.2809. doi:10.1038/NATURE08953. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 20428166. Wikidata Q59058301.

References

  1. ↑ "Prof. Dr. Silke Ospelkaus - AcademiaNet". www.academia-net.org. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  2. 1 2 "Physics - Silke Ospelkaus". physics.aps.org. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  3. ↑ Ospelkaus-Schwarzer, Silke (2007). Quantum degenerate Fermi-Bose mixtures of 40K and 87Rb in 3D-optical lattices (Thesis). Erscheinungsort nicht ermittelbar: [Verlag nicht ermittelbar]. OCLC 637595058.
  4. ↑ Ospelkaus-Schwarzer, (TYPE=name) Silke. "Quantenentartete Fermi-Bose Mischungen aus 40K und 87Rb in 3D optischen Gittern". www2.physnet.uni-hamburg.de. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  5. 1 2 "Professorin Silke Ospelkaus erhält hochdotierten europäischen Forschungspreis". idw-online.de. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  6. ↑ "Redefining Chemistry at JILA". jila.colorado.edu. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  7. 1 2 "Cooling polar molecules". Physics World. 2009-03-18. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  8. ↑ "Prof. Dr. Silke Ospelkaus-Schwarzer". www.humboldt-foundation.de. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  9. ↑ "Prof. Dr. Silke Ospelkaus – Laboratory of Nano and Quantum Engineering". Leibniz Universität Hannover. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  10. 1 2 Siercke, Mirco; Ospelkaus, Silke (2021-12-20). "A New Way to Slow Down Complex Molecules". Physics. 14: 180. Bibcode:2021PhyOJ..14..180S. doi:10.1103/Physics.14.180. S2CID 247282438.
  11. 1 2 "Assembly of Ultracold Molecules – Institute of Quantum Optics – Leibniz University Hannover". Leibniz Universität Hannover. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  12. ↑ "Molecular Quantum Gases – Institute of Quantum Optics – Leibniz University Hannover". Leibniz Universität Hannover. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  13. 1 2 "Direct Laser Cooling of Molecules – Institute of Quantum Optics – Leibniz University Hannover". Leibniz Universität Hannover. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  14. ↑ "Molecular Spectroscopy – Institute of Quantum Optics – Leibniz University Hannover". Leibniz Universität Hannover. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  15. ↑ "Hochdotierte EU-Förderung: Zwei neue ERC Consolidator Grants für innovative Forschung". idw-online.de. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
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