Synthesizing and Harnessing Ultracold Single Molecules for Quantum Simulations

原子和分子是日常物质的基石，科学家们正在学习如何更精确地控制这些基石。在一个值得注意的例子中，原子的量子控制被用来建造原子钟，使全球定位系统(GPS)成为可能。最近，科学家们发现，可以利用原子和分子来构建量子模拟器，这是研究复杂量子现象的资源。这一点很重要，因为量子模拟器可能会导致化学、医学、计算和其他几个科学领域的进步，这些领域有助于国家健康和经济。然而，建造有用的量子模拟器的可靠方法尚不为人所知。该项目旨在开创用于量子模拟器的制备和控制单个分子的方法。如果这些基本步骤成功，那么就可以使用这些原理建造更大的量子模拟器。该项目还将培训研究生和本科生使用分子物理和量子控制技术，这将使他们为参与高科技工作做好准备。该项目旨在开发一种具有单粒子操纵和探测能力的捕获超冷基态分子源，这对未来的量子应用至关重要。为了开发工具逐个原子地构建这种双原子分子，许多广泛使用的原子、分子和光学(AMO)物理技术需要进一步更新和扩展，以便获得更广泛的原子和分子阵列。这包括通过快速交替的捕获和冷却光束来捕获单个原子以消除光移的能力，在Lamb-Dicke区域之外的单个原子的拉曼边带冷却，以及没有大的自发辐射的相干全光原子到分子的转换。许多新的工具将被探索，包括用于无运动激发的运输的原子物种依赖的光学镊子。将这种对单个原子的精确控制与紧密聚焦的光谱激光束相结合，将使首次在气相中实现单分子光谱。这种由两个原子组成的新奇原子源也将为碰撞研究提供一种新的范例，在这种范例中，参与碰撞的伙伴的确切数量已经准备好。此外，人们可以利用分子丰富的内部状态作为合成维度、强烈的电偶极相互作用和灵活的几何排列来研究物质的新相，如多体定域化和量子偶极自旋液体。这一奖项反映了NSF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。

Atoms and molecules are the building blocks of everyday matter, and scientists are learning to control these building blocks with ever more precision. In one noteworthy example, quantum control of atoms was used to build atomic clocks that enable the Global Positioning System (GPS). More recently, scientists discovered that atoms and molecules can be harnessed to build a quantum simulator, a resource for studying complex quantum phenomena. This is important because quantum simulators may lead to advances in chemistry, medicine, computation, and several other scientific fields that contribute to the national health and economy. However, a reliable way to build useful quantum simulators is not yet known. This project aims to pioneer methods to prepare and control individual molecules for use in a quantum simulator. If these basic steps are successful, then larger quantum simulators can be built using these principles. This project will also train graduate students and undergraduate students to use molecular physics and quantum control techniques, and this will prepare them to participate in the high technology work force.This project aims to develop a source of trapped ultracold ground-state molecules with single particle manipulation and detection capability, which are crucial to future quantum applications. To develop tools to build such diatomic molecules atom-by-atom, many widely used Atomic Molecular and Optical (AMO) physics techniques need to be further updated and expanded in order to access a much broader array of atoms and molecules. This includes the ability to trap single atoms by fast alternating trapping and cooling beams to eliminate light shifts, Raman sideband cooling of single atoms outside the Lamb-Dicke regime, and coherent all-optical atom-to-molecule conversion without large spontaneous emission. Many new tools will be explored, including atomic species-dependent optical tweezers for transportation without motional excitation. Combining such exquisite control of individual atoms with a tightly focused spectroscopy laser beam will enable the first realization of single molecule spectroscopy in the gas phase. Such a novel source of two atoms would also provide a new paradigm of collisional study in which the exact number of participating collision partners are prepared. Furthermore, one could use the rich manifold of internal states of molecules as synthetic dimensions, strong electric dipolar interactions, and flexible geometric arrangement of the molecules in order to study novel phases of matter such as many-body localization and a quantum dipolar spin liquid.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.