Efficient detection of cold polar molecules via Rydberg atoms

冷分子和超冷分子的实验是量子科学研究的前沿，有前途，例如量子多体物理的新方法和量子信息处理的新架构。然而，许多分子种类缺乏有效的检测方案，这大大阻碍了进展。在这个项目中，将通过实验演示使用Förster共振能量转移通过超冷里德伯原子检测冷极性分子。检测的主要特征包括基本上适用于任何极性分子种类，高检测效率，状态选择性和非破坏性检测分子的能力。这些优点将为冷/超冷分子领域提供重大推动。该项目还将在分子检测之外做出开创性的贡献。首先，将进行冷分子和里德伯原子之间的碰撞研究，与以前进行的高能碰撞相比，预计会有根本不同的碰撞性质。第二，一种新的方法来执行精确的分子光谱学将被证明，使用里德伯原子，而不是光子。第三，这项工作首次展示了结合里德堡原子和极性分子的量子混合系统，这将使超冷原子的极端可控性能够用于分子的基础研究。

Experiments on cold and ultracold molecules are at the frontier of research in quantum science, promising, e.g. new approaches for quantum many-body physics and novel architectures for quantum information processing. However, the lack of efficient detection schemes for many molecule species substantially impedes progress. In this project, the detection of cold polar molecules via ultracold Rydberg atoms using Förster Resonant Energy Transfer will be experimentally demonstrated. Key features of the detection include the applicability to basically any polar molecule species, a high detection efficiency, state selectivity, and the ability to detect molecules nondestructively. These advantages will provide a major boost to the field of cold/ultracold molecules. The project will also make groundbreaking contributions beyond detection of molecules. First, collision studies between cold molecules and Rydberg atoms will be performed, with fundamentally different collision properties expected compared to higher-energy collisions performed previously. Second, a new approach to perform precision molecular spectroscopy will be demonstrated, using Rydberg atoms instead of photons. Third, the work represents a first demonstration of a quantum hybrid system combining Rydberg atoms and polar molecules, which will allow the extreme controllability of ultracold atoms to be harnessed for fundamental investigations with molecules.