Laser cooling of optically trapped molecules
Laser cooling of optically trapped molecules
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DOI：
10.1038/s41567-018-0191-z
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发表时间：
2018-09-01
期刊：
影响因子：
19.6
通讯作者：
Doyle, John M.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Anderegg, Loic;Augenbraun, Benjamin L.;Doyle, John M.
超冷分子是许多重要应用的理想平台，从量子模拟（1-5）和量子信息处理（6，7）到基础物理的精确测试（2，8 -11）。生产被捕获的、致密的超冷分子样品是一项具有挑战性的任务。一种有前途的方法是直接激光冷却，它可以应用于几类分子不容易组装的超冷原子（12，13）。在这里，我们报告了激光冷却CaF分子的捕获样品的产生，其密度为8 × 10（7）cm（-3），相空间密度为2 × 10（-9），比自由空间中的亚多普勒冷却样品高35倍（14）。这些进展是通过有效的激光冷却光学捕获分子远低于多普勒极限，朝着许多未来的应用的关键一步。这些范围从超冷化学到量子模拟，其中需要保守捕获冷且致密的样品。此外，冷却光学捕获分子的能力为量子简并开辟了新的途径。
Ultracold molecules are ideal platforms for many important applications, ranging from quantum simulation(1-5) and quantum information processing(6,7) to precision tests of fundamental physics(2,8-11). Producing trapped, dense samples of ultracold molecules is a challenging task. One promising approach is direct laser cooling, which can be applied to several classes of molecules not easily assembled from ultracold atoms(12,13). Here, we report the production of trapped samples of laser-cooled CaF molecules with densities of 8 x 10(7) cm(-3) and at phase-space densities of 2 x 10(-9), 35 times higher than for sub-Doppler-cooled samples in free space(14). These advances are made possible by efficient laser cooling of optically trapped molecules to well below the Doppler limit, a key step towards many future applications. These range from ultracold chemistry to quantum simulation, where conservative trapping of cold and dense samples is desirable. In addition, the ability to cool optically trapped molecules opens up new paths towards quantum degeneracy.