Related papers: Blackbody-radiation-assisted molecular laser cooli…
The translational motion of molecular ions can be effectively cooled sympathetically to translational temperatures below 100 mK in ion traps through Coulomb interactions with laser-cooled atomic ions. The ro-vibrational degrees of freedom,…
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.…
We suggest a protocol for the sympathetic cooling of a molecular asymmetric top rotor co-trapped with laser-cooled atomic ions, based on resonant coupling between the molecular ion's electric dipole moment and a common normal mode of the…
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 demonstrate rotational excitation of molecular ions that are sympathetically cooled by laser-cooled atomic ions to a temperature as low as ca. 10 mK. The molecular hydrogen ions HD+ and the fundamental rotational transition $(v=0,\,…
We propose and analyze a scheme for sympathetic cooling of the translational motion of polar molecules in an optical lattice, interacting one by one with laser-cooled ions in a radio-frequency trap. The energy gap between the excitation…
We investigate theoretically the application of tailored incoherent far-infrared fields in combination with laser excitation of a single rovibrational transition for rotational cooling of translationally cold polar diatomic molecules. The…
With MgH^+ ions as a test case, we investigate to what extent the rotational motion of smaller polar molecular ions sympathetically cooled into Coulomb crystals in linear Paul traps couples to the translational motions of the ion ensemble.…
We propose an alternative method to laser cooling. Our approach utilizes the extreme brightness of a supersonic atomic beam, and the adiabatic atomic coilgun to slow atoms in the beam or to bring them to rest. We show how internal-state…
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…
Laser cycling of resonances can remove entropy from a system via spontaneously emitted photons, with electronic resonances providing the fastest cooling timescales because of their rapid relaxation rates. Although atoms are routinely laser…
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…
We propose a laser cooling concept for the translational motion of molecules which does not require repeated spontaneous emission by each molecule. The cooling works by repetition of three main steps: velocity selection of a narrow momentum…
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…
Laser cooling typically requires one or more repump lasers to clear dark states and enable recycling transitions. Here, we have achieved cooling of Be+ ions using a single laser beam, facilitated by one-dimensional heating through…
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…
A novel method of ground state laser cooling of trapped atoms utilizes the absorption profile of a three (or multi-) level system which is tailored by a quantum interference. With cooling rates comparable to conventional sideband cooling,…
A near-minimal instance of optical cooling is experimentally presented wherein the internal-state entropy of a single atom is reduced more than twofold by illuminating it with broadband, incoherent light. Since the rate of optical pumping…
Quantum-state preparation of molecular ions is a prerequisite for precision spectroscopy and controlled studies of cold ion-molecule dynamics. While such control has been extensively developed for diatomic ions and proposed for linear…
Cooling the rotation and the vibration of molecules by broadband light sources was possible for trapped molecular ions or ultracold molecules. Because of a low power spectral density, the cooling timescale has never fell below than a few…