Ultracold Polar Molecules

这个实验研究项目的重点是创造和探索极性分子的致密超冷气体。 由于对各向异性势如何影响集体现象的兴趣，偶极量子气体的探索是当前强烈的兴趣。 在这个项目中要研究的NaCs分子具有很强的偶极-偶极力，将表现出新颖的行为。 该项目将扩展先前在创建处于电子基态但处于旋转振动激发态的NaCs极性分子方面的工作。 这个项目的目标是使用相干控制技术（光诱导势绝热通道）从超冷原子气体中产生处于振转基态的分子。 此外，将开发将这些分子捕获在具有旋转鞍点的电势中的方法。 这项工作的更广泛的影响在于偶极气体实验的能力，以研究通常与凝聚态系统相关的量子相变。 冷极性分子也有可能被用作信息处理的量子比特。 作为一个进一步的和重要的更广泛的影响，该项目有一个重要的教育组成部分;本科生和研究生将积极促进这项研究。 该项目是下一代科学家和工程师的理想培训基地。在这些领域受过培训的学生在学术，政府和工业工作中备受追捧，并在美国科学劳动力中发挥着关键作用。

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.