High-Efficiency Quantum-State Detection of ThF$^+$ with Resonance-Enhanced Multiphoton Asymmetric Dissociation
Abstract
Efficient quantum-state detection is crucial for many precision control experiments, such as the ongoing effort to probe the electron's electric dipole moment using trapped molecular ions at JILA. While quantum state detection through state-selective photodissociation has been successfully implemented on this molecule, progress has been hindered by low dissociation efficiency. In this work, we perform spectroscopy on the molecule to identify excited states that facilitate more efficient photodissociation. For the most favorable transition, we achieve a dissociation efficiency of 57(14)% with quantum state selectivity. Additionally, we discuss several state detection protocols that leverage favorable excited states that will facilitate simultaneous readout of all EDM relevant states, allowing further improvement of overall statistics.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2508.04949,
title = {High-Efficiency Quantum-State Detection of ThF$^+$ with Resonance-Enhanced Multiphoton Asymmetric Dissociation},
author = {Kia Boon Ng and Sun Yool Park and Anzhou Wang and Addison Hartman and Patricia Hector Hernandez and Rohan Kompella and Lan Cheng and Stephan Malbrunot-Ettenauer and Jun Ye and Eric A. Cornell},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2508.04949},
year = {2025}
}