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Abstract

This article describes a quasi-analytic model of a linear Stark accelerator/decelerator for polar molecules in both their low- and high-field seeking states, and examines the dynamics of the acceleration/deceleration process and its phase stability. The requisite time-dependent inhomogeneous Stark fields, used in current experiments, are Fourier-analyzed and found to consist of a superposition of partial waves with well-defined phase velocities. The kinematics of the interaction of molecules with the partial waves is discussed and the notion of a phase of a molecule in a travelling field is introduced. Next, the net potential and the net force that act on the molecules are derived. A special case, the first-harmonic accelerator/decelerator, is introduced. This represents a model system many of whose properties can be obtained analytically. The first-harmonic accelerator/decelerator dynamics is presented and discussed along with that of the isomorphic biased-pendulum problem. Finally, the general properties of the velocity of the molecules in a phase-stable accelerator/decelerator are examined.