Ultracold Molecular Ions Prepared Via Sympathetic Cooling - A New Frontier for Quantum Interactions and Fundamental Physics

该奖项支持开拓和探索物理学新前沿的技术开发：超冷极性分子离子的生产和研究。预计生产这种样品的能力可能会带来重大的技术和基础科学进步。这包括潜在地学习如何在量子制度下控制化学，这可能有助于新材料和药物设计；创建一个可用于生产强大和可扩展的量子计算机的平台；允许对量子物质和电荷传输进行新的探测器；了解星际云的形成；以及为基础物理测试精确测量分子结构。该项目的主要研究目标是进一步优化冷极性分子离子的生产方法，并开始开发必要的技术，以实现预期的技术和基础进步。因此，这个项目有能力帮助科学进步，并从长远来看，支持国家的繁荣和安全。由于分子离子很容易被射频离子陷阱捕获数分钟，因此存在着不适用于中性原子和分子的冷却和讯问的可能性。因此，这个团队正在开发一种技术，在这种技术中，分子离子与激光冷却的原子离子共捕获，以实现对其运动的共鸣冷却。然后，分子被浸入激光冷却的钙原子云中，这会冷却分子的内部量子态。这样，就应该产生冷的基态分子离子。该团队将努力应对该领域面临的三个挑战：1)原子和分子离子之间的化学反应能被控制吗？我们能在绝对内基态下产生分子离子吗？保罗陷阱中分子离子的旋转量子比特的相干时间是多少？这一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智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award supports the development of techniques to open and explore a new frontier in physics: the production and study of ultracold polar molecular ions. It is expected that the ability to produce such samples could lead to significant technological and fundamental scientific advancements. This includes potentially learning how to control chemistry in the quantum regime, which could aid novel materials and drug design; creating a platform that could be useful in producing a robust and scalable quantum computer; allowing new probes of quantum matter and charge transport; understanding the formation of interstellar clouds; and precision measurement of molecular structure for tests of fundamental physics. The main research objective of this project is to further optimize the methods of cold polar molecular ion production and begin developing the techniques necessary to enable the expected technological and fundamental advancements. As such, this project has the ability to aid the progress of science and in the longer term bolster national prosperity and security.Because molecular ions are easily trapped for many minutes in radio-frequency ion traps, there are possibilities for cooling and interrogation that are not applicable to neutral atoms and molecules. Therefore, this team is developing a technique where molecular ions are co-trapped with laser cooled atomic ions for sympathetic cooling of their motion. The molecules are then immersed in a cloud of laser-cooled calcium atoms which cool the molecular internal quantum states. In this way, cold ground-state molecular ions should be produced. This team will work to answer three challenges facing the field: 1.) Can chemical reactions between atoms and molecular ions be controlled? 2.) Can we produce molecular ions in the absolute internal ground state? 3.) What is the coherence time of the rotational qubit of a molecular ion in a Paul trap?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.