A pulsed, low-temperature beam of supersonically cooled free radical OH molecules

An improved system for creating a pulsed, low-temperature molecular beam of hydroxyl radical (OH) radicals has been developed. We use a pulsed discharge to create OH from H2O seeded in Xe during a supersonic expansion, where the high-voltage pulse duration is significantly shorter than the width of the gas pulse. The pulsed discharge allows for control of the mean speed of the molecular packet as well as maintains a low temperature supersonic expansion. A hot filament is placed in the source chamber to initiate the discharge for shorter durations and at lower voltages, resulting in a translationally and rotationally colder packet of OH molecules.