Related papers: A Method for Preparation and Readout of Polyatomic…
We show how to prepare a single molecular ion in a specific internal quantum state in a situation where the molecule is trapped and sympathetically cooled by an atomic ion and where its internal degrees of freedom are initially in thermal…
Preparing molecules at rest and in a highly pure quantum state is a long standing dream in chemistry and physics, so far achieved only for a select set of molecules in dedicated experimental setups. Here, a quantum-limited combination of…
We present theoretical and experimental progress towards a new approach for the precision spectroscopy, coherent manipulation and state-to-state chemistry of single isolated molecular ions in the gas phase. Our method consists of a…
Modern experiments with cold molecular ions have reached a high degree of complexity requiring frequent sample preparation, state initialization and protocol execution while demanding precise control over multiple devices and laser sources.…
Quantum-logic techniques for state preparation, manipulation, and non-destructive interrogation are increasingly being adopted for experiments on single molecular ions confined in traps. The ability to control molecular ions on the quantum…
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…
This work examines optimized strategies for the preparation of single molecular ions in well-defined rotational quantum states in an ion trap with the example of the molecular nitrogen ion N2+. It advances a two-step approach consisting of…
Laser cooling and trapping of atoms and atomic ions has led to numerous advances including the observation of exotic phases of matter, development of exquisite sensors and state-of-the-art atomic clocks. The same level of control in…
Due to their rich level structure, molecules are well-suited for probing time variation of fundamental constants, precisely measuring parity violation and time-reversal non-invariance effects, studying quantum mechanical aspects of chemical…
Quantum-logic techniques used to manipulate quantum systems are now increasingly being applied to molecules. Previous experiments on single trapped diatomic species have enabled state detection with excellent fidelities and highly precise…
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…
In this work we investigate the theory for three different uni-directional population transfer schemes in trapped multilevel systems which can be utilized to cool molecular ions. The approach we use exploits the laser-induced coupling…
We propose a new method for the production of ultracold molecular ions. This method utilizes sympathetic cooling due to the strong collisions between appropriately chosen molecular ions and laser-cooled neutral atoms to realize ultracold,…
Sympathetic cooling of molecular ions through the Coulomb interaction with laser-cooled atomic ions is an efficient tool to prepare translationally cold molecules without, ideally, affecting the internal state of the molecular ions.…
Detecting the internal state of polar molecules is a substantial challenge when standard techniques such as resonance-enhanced multi photon ionization (REMPI) or laser-induced fluorescense (LIF) do not work. As this is the case for most…
Qubits of long coherence time and fast quantum operations are long-sought objectives towards the realization of high-fidelity quantum operations and their applications to the quantum technologies. An electron levitated in a vacuum by a Paul…
We present a new method for the generation of rotationally and vibrationally state-selected, translationally cold molecular ions in ion traps. Our technique is based on the state-selective threshold photoionization of neutral molecules…
It is shown that the translational degrees of freedom of a large variety of molecules, from light diatomic to heavy organic ones, can be cooled sympathetically and brought to rest (crystallized) in a linear Paul trap. The method relies on…
Understanding molecular state evolution is central to many disciplines, including molecular dynamics, precision measurement, and molecule-based quantum technology. Details of the evolution are obscured when observing a statistical ensemble…
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…