Related papers: Slow decay processes of electrostatically trapped …
We propose to sympathetically slow and cool polar molecules in a cold, low-density beam using laser-cooled Rydberg atoms. The elastic collision cross sections between molecules and Rydberg atoms are large enough to efficiently thermalize…
We report on the deceleration of a beam of SrF molecules from 290 to 120~m/s. Following supersonic expansion, the molecules in the $X^2\Sigma$ ($v=0$, $N=1$) low-field seeking states are trapped by the moving potential wells of a…
Polar molecules in selected quantum states can be guided, decelerated and trapped using electric fields created by microstructured electrodes on a chip. Here we explore how non-adiabatic transitions between levels in which the molecules are…
Cold atomic gases resonantly excited to Rydberg states can exhibit strong optical nonlinearity at the single photon level. We observe that in such samples radiation trapping leads to an additional mechanism for Rydberg excitation.…
Since the advent of atom laser-cooling, trapping or cooling natural molecules has been a long standing and challenging goal. Here, we demonstrate a method for laser-trapping molecules that is radically novel in its configuration, in its…
We propose and demonstrate the laser cooling and trapping of Rydberg-dressed Sr atoms. By off-resonantly coupling the excited state of a narrow (7 kHz) cooling transition to a high-lying Rydberg state, we transfer Rydberg properties such as…
Circular Rydberg states are ideal tools for quantum technologies, with huge mutual interactions and extremely long lifetimes in the tens of milliseconds range, two orders of magnitude larger than those of laser-accessible Rydberg states.…
Coherence time and gate fidelities in Rydberg atom quantum simulators and computers are fundamentally limited by the Rydberg state lifetime. Circular Rydberg states are highly promising candidates to overcome this limitation by orders of…
Simultaneous two-dimensional trapping of neutral dipolar molecules in low- and high-field seeking states is analyzed. A trapping potential of the order of 20 mK can be produced for molecules like ND3 with time-dependent electric fields. The…
Carbon monoxide molecules in their electronic, vibrational, and rotational ground state are highly attractive for trapping experiments. The optical or ac electric traps that can be envisioned for these molecules will be very shallow,…
The laser-excitation of Rydberg atoms in ultracold gases is often described assuming that the atomic motion is frozen during the excitation time. We show that this frozen gas approximation can break down for atoms that are held in optical…
We propose and analyze an electrostatic-optical nano-scale trap for cold diatomic polar molecules. The main ingredient of our proposal is an square-array of ferroelectric nano-rods {with alternating polarization}. We show that, in contrast…
The lifetimes and decay channels of ultralong-range Rydberg molecules created in a dense BEC are examined by monitoring the time evolution of the Rydberg population using field ionization. Studies of molecules with values of principal…
Spontaneous avalanche to plasma splits the core of an ellipsoidal Rydberg gas of nitric oxide. Ambipolar expansion first quenches the electron temperature of this core plasma. Then, long-range, resonant charge transfer from ballistic ions…
Resonant mm-wave fields drive $n_0f(2) \rightarrow (n_0 \pm 1)g(2)$ transitions in a state-selected $n_0f(2)$ Rydberg gas of NO. This transformation produces a clear signature in the selected field ionization spectrum and dramatically…
We characterize the two-photon excitation of an ultracold gas of Rubidium atoms to Rydberg states analysing the induced atomic losses from an optical dipole trap. Extending the duration of the Rydberg excitation to several ms, the ground…
In the last years, it was demonstrated that neutral molecules can be loaded on a microchip directly from a supersonic beam. The molecules are confined in microscopic traps that can be moved smoothly over the surface of the chip. Once the…
We have developed an all-optical method for measuring the lifetimes of $n S$ and $n D$ Rydberg states and demonstrate its capabilities with measurements on a dilute cloud of ultracold ${}^{87}$Rb atoms in a cryogenic environment. The method…
We present a method to design a finite decay rate for excited rotational states in polar molecules. The setup is based on a hybrid system of polar molecules with atoms driven into a Rydberg state. The atoms and molecules are coupled via the…
We demonstrate efficient transfer of ultracold molecules into a deeply bound rovibrational level of the singlet ground state potential in the presence of an optical lattice. The overall molecule creation efficiency is 25%, and the transfer…