Trapping and slowing cold molecules in pulsed optical lattices

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This proposal aims to study the manipulation and trapping of molecules within pulsed optical fields, focusing in particular on exploring the centre-ofmass motion of molecules within medium intensity periodic optical potentials, often called optical lattices. This work will study the detailed molecular motion within optical lattices, including the slowing and trapping of cold molecules, as well as the untrapped dynamics in accelerating lattices.We will produce, for the first time, stationary cold non-polar molecules in the 1 mK to 1 K range by decelerating jet-cooled molecules. Two lattice deceleration schemes will be explored, both of which are capable of decelerating essentially any polarisable particle, including atomic species and clusters. The first scheme will use a novel chirped laser system that traps and transports the molecules to zero velocity, while a second scheme will utilise the detailed dynamics of molecular motion when trapped within a constant velocity pulsed lattice.