Observation of microwave shielding of ultracold molecules
Observation of microwave shielding of ultracold molecules
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DOI：
10.1126/science.abg9502
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发表时间：
2021-08-13
期刊：
影响因子：
56.9
通讯作者：
Doyle, John M.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Anderegg, Loic;Burchesky, Sean;Doyle, John M.
利用分子潜在的广泛的量子科学应用将需要控制它们的相互作用。在这里，我们使用微波辐射直接设计和调整超冷氟化钙（CaF）分子之间的相互作用势。通过合并两个光镊，每个光镊包含一个分子，我们探测了三维碰撞。微波频率和功率的正确组合产生了有效的排斥屏蔽，将非弹性损耗率抑制了六倍，与理论计算一致。所展示的微波屏蔽显示了创建长寿命的超冷极性分子和蒸发冷却的致密样品的一般路线。
Harnessing the potential wide-ranging quantum science applications of molecules will require control of their interactions. Here, we used microwave radiation to directly engineer and tune the interaction potentials between ultracold calcium monofluoride (CaF) molecules. By merging two optical tweezers, each containing a single molecule, we probed collisions in three dimensions. The correct combination of microwave frequency and power created an effective repulsive shield, which suppressed the inelastic loss rate by a factor of six, in agreement with theoretical calculations. The demonstrated microwave shielding shows a general route to the creation of long-lived, dense samples of ultracold polar molecules and evaporative cooling.