Related papers: Spin interferometry in a beam of ultracold molecul…
We discuss an experiment underway at Imperial College London to measure the permanent electric dipole moment (EDM) of the electron using a molecular beam of YbF. We describe the measurement method, which uses a combination of laser and…
Measurements of the electron's electric dipole moment (eEDM) are demanding tests of physics beyond the Standard Model. We describe how ultracold YbF molecules could be used to improve the precision of eEDM measurements by two to three…
We demonstrate one-dimensional sub-Doppler laser cooling of a beam of YbF molecules to 100 $\mu$K. This is a key step towards a measurement of the electron's electric dipole moment using ultracold molecules. We compare the effectiveness of…
The most sensitive measurements of the electron electric dipole moment d_e have previously been made using heavy atoms. Heavy polar molecules offer a greater sensitivity to d_e because the interaction energy to be measured is typically 10^3…
We use two-dimensional transverse laser cooling to produce an ultracold beam of YbF molecules. Through experiments and numerical simulations, we study how the cooling is influenced by the polarization configuration, laser intensity, laser…
We propose an experiment to measure the electric dipole moment of the electron using ultracold YbF molecules. The molecules are produced as a thermal beam by a cryogenic buffer gas source, and brought to rest in an optical molasses that…
Heavy polar molecules can be used to measure the electric dipole moment of the electron, which is a sensitive probe of physics beyond the Standard Model. The value is determined by measuring the precession of the molecule's spin in a plane…
We present progress towards a new measurement of the electron electric dipole moment using a cold supersonic beam of YbF molecules. Data are currently being taken with a sensitivity of $10^{-27}\textrm{e.cm}/\sqrt{\textrm{day}}$. We…
The electric dipole moment of the electron (eEDM) can be measured with high precision using heavy polar molecules. In this paper, we report on a series of new techniques that have improved the statistical sensitivity of the YbF eEDM…
Atom interferometry with high visibility is of high demand for precision measurements. Here, a parallel multicomponent interferometer is achieved by preparing a spin-$2$ Bose-Einstein condensate of $^{87}$Rb atoms confined in a hybrid…
We describe the first precision measurement of the electron's electric dipole moment (eEDM, $d_e$) using trapped molecular ions, demonstrating the application of spin interrogation times over 700 ms to achieve high sensitivity and stringent…
We propose high-spin $\Sigma$-state polar molecules assembled from ultracold atoms to probe charge-parity violating physics beyond the Standard Model. We identify YbCr as a prime candidate to search for the electric dipole moment of the…
We recently reported a new measurement of the electron's electric dipole moment using YbF molecules [Nature 473, 493 (2011)]. Here, we give a more detailed description of the methods used to make this measurement, along with a fuller…
We are pursuing an experiment to measure the electric dipole moment of the electron using the molecule PbO. This measurement requires the ability to prepare quantum states with orientation of the molecular axis and, simultaneously,…
The collective dipole mode is induced and measured in a spin-orbit (SO) coupled degenerate Fermi gas of $^{173}$Yb atoms. Using a differential optical Stark shift, we split the degeneracy of three hyperfine states in the ground manifold,…
We explore the uses of ultracold molecules as a platform for future experiments in the field of quantum simulation, focusing on two molecular species, $^{40}$Ca$^{19}$F and $^{87}$Rb$^{133}$Cs. We report the development of coherent quantum…
We report entanglement of a single atom's hyperfine spin state with its motional state in a timescale of less than 3 ns. We engineer a short train of intense laser pulses to impart a spin-dependent momentum transfer of +/- 2 hbar k. Using…
The spin of an electron in a self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dot molecule is optically prepared and measured through the trion triplet states. A longitudinal magnetic field is used to tune two of the trion states into resonance, forming a…
Entanglement can improve the measurement precision of quantum sensors beyond the shot noise limit. Neutral atoms, the basis of some of the most precise and accurate optical clocks and interferometers, do not naturally exhibit all-to-all…
Matter-wave interferometer of ultracold atoms with different linear momenta has been extensively studied in theory and experiment. The vortex matter-wave interferometer with different angular momenta is applicable as a quantum sensor for…