Crossed beam scattering experiments with optimized energy resolution

Crossed molecular beam scattering experiments in which the energy of the collision is varied can reveal valuable insight into the collision dynamics. The energy resolution that can be obtained depends mainly on the velocity and angular spreads of the molecular beams; often, these are too broad to resolve narrow features in the cross sections like scattering resonances. The collision energy resolution can be greatly improved by making appropriate choices for the beam velocities and the beam intersection angle. This method works particularly well for situations in which one of the beams has a narrow velocity spread, and we here discuss the implications of this method for crossed beam scattering experiments with Stark-decelerated beams.