Related papers: Laser-coolable polyatomic molecules with heavy nuc…
Over the past decade, tremendous progress has been made to extend the tools of laser cooling and trapping to molecules. Those same tools have recently been applied to polyatomic molecules (molecules containing three or more atoms). In this…
Doppler and Sisyphus cooling of $^{174}$YbOH are achieved and studied. This polyatomic molecule has high sensitivity to physics beyond the Standard Model and represents a new class of species for future high-precision probes of new…
We perform magnetically-assisted Sisyphus laser cooling of the triatomic free radical strontium monohydroxide (SrOH). This is achieved with principal optical cycling in the rotationally closed $P\left(N"=1\right)$ branch of either the…
We report magneto-optical trapping (MOT) of a polyatomic molecule, calcium monohydroxide (CaOH). The MOT contains $2.0(5)\times 10^4$ CaOH molecules at a peak density of $3.0(8)\times10^{6}$ cm$^{-3}$. CaOH molecules are further sub-Doppler…
The rich internal structure and long-range dipole-dipole interactions establish polar molecules as unique instruments for quantum-controlled applications and fundamental investigations. Their potential fully unfolds at ultracold…
The last few years have seen rapid progress in the application of laser cooling to molecules. In this review, we examine what kinds of molecules can be laser cooled, how to design a suitable cooling scheme, and how the cooling can be…
It has been roughly three decades since laser cooling techniques produced ultracold atoms, leading to rapid advances in a vast array of fields. Unfortunately laser cooling has not yet been extended to molecules because of their complex…
A rational approach to identify polyatomic molecules that appear to be promising candidates for direct Doppler cooling with lasers is outlined. First-principle calculations for equilibrium structures and Franck--Condon factors of selected…
Recently a new wave of interest to spectroscopy of radioactive compounds has raised due to successful applications of the new experimental ISOL/CRIS technique to optical spectroscopy of radium monofluoride molecules. This opens great…
We demonstrate optical cycling and sub-Doppler laser cooling of a cryogenic buffer-gas beam of calcium monohydride (CaH) molecules. We measure vibrational branching ratios for laser cooling transitions for both excited electronic states A…
The direct laser cooling of neutral diatomic molecules in molecular beams suggests that trapped molecular ions can also be laser cooled. The long storage time and spatial localization of trapped molecular ions provides the opportunity for…
We report optical trapping of a polyatomic molecule, calcium monohydroxide (CaOH). CaOH molecules from a magneto-optical trap are sub-Doppler laser cooled to $20(3)~\mu\text{K}$ in free space and loaded into an optical dipole trap. We…
Precision measurements in molecules have advanced rapidly in recent years through developments in techniques to cool, trap, and control. The complexity of molecules makes them a challenge to study, but also offers opportunities for enhanced…
We present a study of Sisyphus cooling of molecules: the scattering of a single-photon remove a substantial amount of the molecular kinetic energy and an optical pumping step allow to repeat the process. A review of the produced cold…
The ability to cool atoms below the Doppler limit -- the minimum temperature reachable by Doppler cooling -- has been essential to most experiments with quantum degenerate gases, optical lattices and atomic fountains, among many other…
Laser cooling to sub-Doppler temperatures by optical molasses is thought to be inhibited in atoms with unresolved, near-degenerate hyperfine structure in the excited state. We demonstrate that such cooling is possible in one to three…
We propose a scheme for laser cooling of negatively charged molecules. We briefly summarise the requirements for such laser cooling and we identify a number of potential candidates. A detailed computation study with C$\_2^-$, the most…
Molecules with heavy, radioactive nuclei promise extreme sensitivity to fundamental nuclear and particle physics. However, these nuclei are available in limited quantities, which challenges their use in precision measurements. Here we…
We demonstrate a 1D magneto-optical trap of the polar free radical calcium monohydroxide (CaOH). A quasi-closed cycling transition is established to scatter $\sim 10^3$ photons per molecule, predominantly limited by interaction time. This…
Recently, laser cooling methods have been extended from atoms to molecules. The complex rotational and vibrational energy level structure of molecules makes laser cooling difficult, but these difficulties have been overcome and molecules…