Related papers: Magneto-optical trapping of a heavy polyatomic mol…
We have measured the lifetime of the 5s5p ^3P_2 metastable state of strontium atoms by magneto-optically trapping the decayed atoms to the ground state, which allowed sensitive detection of the rare decay events. We found that the blackbody…
A continuously operated electrostatic trap for polar molecules is demonstrated. The trap has a volume of ~0.6 cm^3 and holds molecules with a positive Stark shift. With deuterated ammonia from a quadrupole velocity filter, a trap density of…
Trapping lithium with a big number in a simplified experimental setup has difficulties and challenges today. In this paper, we experimentally demonstrate the enhancement of \textsuperscript{6}Li trapping efficiency in a three-dimensional…
We present precision spectroscopy on electrically trapped formaldehyde (H$_2$CO), demonstrating key attributes which will enable molecular spectroscopy with unprecedented precision. Our method makes use of a microstructured electric trap…
Magneto-optical traps are central to atomic and molecular quantum technologies and precision tests of fundamental physics, where both sensitivity and bandwidth scale strongly with atom number and loading rate. We demonstrate that employing…
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 present a magneto-optical trap (MOT) design based on millimeter ball lenses, contained within a metal cube of 0.75$^{\prime \prime}$ side length. We present evidence of trapping approximately $4.2\times 10^5$ of $^{85}$Rb atoms with a…
We present an all-optical mass spectrometry technique to identify trapped ions. The new method uses laser-cooled ions to determine the mass of a cotrapped dark ion with a sub-dalton resolution within a few seconds. We apply the method to…
Single strontium atoms held in optical tweezers have so far only been imaged using the broad $^{1\hspace{-0.3ex}}S_0$-$^{1\hspace{-0.3ex}}P_1$ transition. For Yb, use of the narrow (183 kHz-wide)…
The intercombination line of Strontium at 689nm is successfully used in laser cooling to reach the photon recoil limit with Doppler cooling in a magneto-optical traps (MOT). In this paper we present a systematic study of the loading…
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…
Molecular magneto-optical traps (MOTs) typically capture orders of magnitude fewer particles than their atomic counterparts due in part to their significantly lower capture velocities. Here, we employ a Stochastic Schr\"odinger Equation…
We demonstrate the simultaneous magneto-optical trapping (MOT) of Rb and Sr and examine the characteristic loss of Rb in the MOT due to photoionization by the cooling laser for Sr. The photoionization cross section of Rb in the $5P_{3/2}$…
We demonstrate for the first time the two-color cooling and trapping of alkaline-earth atoms in a grating magneto-optical trap (gMOT). The trap is formed by a single incident laser beam together with four secondary beams that are generated…
We have constructed a magneto-optical trap (MOT) for metastable triplet helium atoms utilizing the 2 3S1 -> 3 3P2 line at 389 nm as the trapping and cooling transition. The far-red-detuned MOT (detuning Delta = -41 MHz) typically contains…
We report on the realization of a platform for trapping and manipulating individual $^{88}$Sr atoms in optical tweezers. A first cooling stage based on a blue shielded magneto-optical trap (MOT) operating on the $^1S_0$ -> $^1P_1$…
We report a two-color magneto-optical trap that continuously operates on the $\mathrm{(5s^2)\:^1S_0-(5s5p)\:^1P_1}$ and $\mathrm{(5s5p)\:^3P_2-(5s5d)\:^3D_3}$ transitions in $\mathrm{^{88}Sr}$. Owing to the sub-Doppler cooling from the…
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…
We demonstrate a continuously loaded $^{88}\mathrm{Sr}$ magneto-optical trap (MOT) with a steady-state phase-space density of $1.3(2) \times 10^{-3}$. This is two orders of magnitude higher than reported in previous steady-state MOTs. Our…
We demonstrate significantly improved magneto-optical trapping of molecules using a very slow cryogenic beam source and RF modulated and DC magnetic fields. The RF MOT confines $1.1(3) \times 10^5$ CaF molecules at a density of $4(1) \times…