Ultracold Polar Molecules

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This experimental research project focuses on of creating and exploring dense ultracold gasses of polar molecules. Exploration of dipolar quantum gasses is of intense current interest because of interest in how anisotropic potentials affect collective phenomena. The NaCs molecule to be studied in this project has strong dipole-dipole forces that will exhibit novel behavior. The project will is to extend prior work in creating NaCs polar molecules which are in the electronic ground state but in rovibrationally excited states. The goal of this project is to use a coherent control technique (Adiabatic Passage by Light Induced Potentials) to produce molecules in the rovibrational ground state from a gas of ultracold atoms. In addition methods to trap these molecules in an electric potential that has a rotating saddle point will be developed. A broader impact of this work lies in the ability of experiments with dipolar gasses to investigate quantum phase transitions which are normally associated with condensed matter systems. Cold polar molecules also have a potential to be used as quantum bits for information processing. As a further and significant broader impact, the project has a significant educational component; undergraduate and graduate students will actively contribute to this research. The project is an ideal training ground for the next generation of scientists and engineers. Students trained in these fields are highly sought after in academic, government and industrial jobs and play a key role in the US scientific workforce.