Related papers: Large molasses-like cooling forces for molecules u…
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…
Optical cycling transitions and direct laser cooling have recently been demonstrated for a number of alkaline-earth dimers and trimer molecules. This is made possible by diagonal Franck-Condon factors between the vibrational modes of the…
We present a practical roadmap to achieve optical cycling and laser cooling of asymmetric top molecules (ATMs). Our theoretical analysis describes how reduced molecular symmetry, as compared to diatomic and symmetric non-linear molecules,…
Laser cooling of translational motion of small molecules is performed by addressing transitions that ensure spontaneous emission cannot cause net rotational excitation. This will not be possible once the rotational splitting becomes…
Ultracold molecular gases are promising as an avenue to rich many-body physics, quantum chemistry, quantum information, and precision measurements. This richness, which flows from the complex internal structure of molecules, makes the…
Optically trapped laser-cooled polar molecules hold promise for new science and technology in quantum information and quantum simulation. Large numerical aperture optical access and long trap lifetimes are needed for many studies, but these…
There is substantial interest in producing samples of ultracold molecules for possible applications in quantum computation, quantum simulation of condensed matter systems, precision measurements, controlled chemistry, and high precision…
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…
We examine the prospects for utilizing the optical bichromatic force (BCF) to greatly enhance laser deceleration and cooling for near-cycling transitions in small molecules. We discuss the expected behavior of the BCF in near-cycling…
Rapid progress in cooling and trapping of molecules has enabled first experiments on high resolution spectroscopy of trapped diatomic molecules, promising unprecedented precision. Extending this work to polyatomic molecules provides unique…
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…
Recently a number of diatomic and polyatomics molecules has been identified as a prospective systems for Doppler/Sisyphus cooling. Doppler/Sisyphus cooling allows to decrease the kinetic energy of molecules down to microkelvin temperatures…
We present the first experimental demonstration of radiation pressure force deflection and direct laser cooling for barium monohydride (BaH) molecules resulting from multiple photon scattering. Despite a small recoil velocity (2.7 mm/s) and…
Polar heavy-atom molecules have been well recognized as promising candidates for precision measurements and tests of fundamental physics. A much slower molecular beam to increase the interaction time should lead to a more sensitive…
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…
For experiments that require a quantum system to be in the ultra-cold regime, laser cooling is an essential tool. While techniques for laser cooling ions and neutral atoms have been refined and temperatures below the Doppler limit have been…
We report on a scheme to cool and compress trapped clouds of highly magnetic 52Cr atoms. This scheme combines sequences of gray molasses, which freeze the velocity distribution, and free evolutions in the (close to) harmonic trap, which…
Optical control of polyatomic molecules promises new opportunities in precision metrology, fundamental chemistry, quantum information, and many-body science. Contemporary experimental and theoretical efforts have mostly focused on cycling…
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…
We have recently demonstrated that optical pumping methods combined with photoassociation of ultra-cold atoms can produce ultra-cold and dense samples of molecules in their absolute rovibronic ground state. More generally, both the external…