CAREER: A New Platform for Quantum Science with Laser Cooled Molecules

该职业奖支持捕获大分子样品并将其冷却到接近绝对零度的技术的发展。分子的复杂性质，由于它们可以振动和旋转，再加上在低温下可能实现的精细控制，为科学和技术的新研究方向提供了途径。潜在的应用包括在极低温下的化学测试，复杂的强相互作用系统的模拟，以及可以利用量子力学定律胜过经典计算机的量子计算机。几乎所有这些应用都需要控制相邻分子之间的相互作用，并且要求样品密度超出当前分子冷却和捕获技术的范围。这个项目的研究目标是相对于目前的冷却和捕获技术，在给定的体积内捕获更多的分子，并容易地检测和操纵这些相互作用。这些进展有望加速低温分子作为量子科学资源的发展和新量子技术的出现。与这些研究目标并行，该职业奖支持一项教育工作，旨在向康涅狄格州威廉曼蒂克的高中生和当地社区介绍量子力学的关键要素。这个“量子研讨会”将允许参与者通过亲身演示来展示光的波和粒子性质，并将向用户展示在首席研究员实验室进行的研究。每年夏天，高中教师将在首席调查员小组内进行研究，然后在下一学年向学生介绍他们的经验。预计这些活动将增加当地对科学的兴趣，并增加在物理和其他STEM学科中从事职业或接受大学教育的学生人数。激光冷却和俘获是现代原子物理学的核心。将这些技术扩展到分子，开辟了原子实验无法触及的广泛研究方向。应用实例包括时间分辨量子模拟，超冷有机化学，以及量子计算和提高精度测量的新平台。然而，目前的限制阻碍了激光冷却样品中分子-分子相互作用的检测和操作，这对于越来越多的应用是必要的。关键的障碍是低效率的阱负载，这限制了分子磁光阱（MOTs）的密度。该项目计划分两步消除这一障碍，实现大而致密的超冷分子样品。第一步将大大增加在MOT区域产生的可捕获分子的数量。第二步将增加MOT的约束力，然后将捕获的分子冷却到接近1K的温度。与这项研究同时，拟议的工作将制定一个与康涅狄格州威廉曼蒂克的高中和当地社区合作的外展计划。这个“量子研讨会”将利用在首席研究员实验室进行的研究，向高中生展示量子力学和波粒二象性的世界。作为这项推广工作的一部分，高中教师将作为暑期技术员加入首席研究员的实验室，以扩大他们的科学学科知识，并加强在该项目中进行的研究。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This CAREER award supports the development of techniques to trap large samples of molecules and cool them to temperatures near absolute zero. The complex nature of molecules, due to the fact that they can vibrate and rotate, combined with the exquisite control possible at low temperatures, provides access to new research directions in science and technology. Potential applications include tests of chemistry at extremely low temperatures, simulations of complex strongly interacting systems, and quantum computers that can leverage the laws of quantum mechanics to outperform classical computers. Almost all of these applications require controlled interactions between neighboring molecules and demand sample densities beyond the reach of current molecular cooling and trapping techniques. The research objectives of this program aim to trap many more molecules in a given volume relative to current cooling and trapping techniques and to readily detect and manipulate these interactions. These advances promise to accelerate both the development of low temperature molecules as a resource for quantum science and the emergence of new quantum technologies. In parallel to these research objectives, this CAREER award supports an educational effort designed to introduce key elements of quantum mechanics to high school students and the local community in Willimantic, CT. This "Quantum Workshop" will allow participants to demonstrate the wave- and particle-like nature of light for themselves through hands-on demonstrations and will expose users to the research performed within the Principal Investigator's lab. Each summer high school teachers will perform research within the Principal Investigator's group and then present their experiences to their students the following academic year. These activities are expected to increase both local interest in science and the number of students pursuing careers or a college education in physics and other STEM disciplines. Laser cooling and trapping are central to modern atomic physics. The extension of these techniques to molecules opens a wide range of research directions beyond the reach of atomic experiments. Examples of applications include time-resolved quantum simulations, ultracold organic chemistry, and new platforms for quantum computation and improved precision measurements. However, current limitations prevent the detection and manipulation of molecule-molecule interactions in laser-cooled samples, which are necessary for a growing list of applications. The key barrier is inefficient trap loading, which limits the densities achieved in molecular magneto-optical traps (MOTs). This program plans to remove this barrier and realize large, dense samples of ultracold molecules in two steps. The first step will substantially increase the number of trappable molecules produced in the MOT region. The second step will increase the MOT confining forces before cooling the trapped molecules to temperatures near 1K. In parallel to this research, the proposed work will develop an outreach program to partner with high schools and the local community in Willimantic, CT. This "Quantum Workshop" will leverage the research performed within the Principal Investigator's lab to present the world of quantum mechanics and wave-particle duality to high school students. As a part of this outreach effort, high school teachers will join the Principal Investigator's lab as summer technicians to broaden their scientific disciplinary knowledge and enhance the research performed within this program.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.