Fast digital oscilloscope for the development of ultrafast magnetic nano-switch with molecular superrotors

我们对自然认识的重大突破往往是通过创造新的奇异物质状态来触发的--物质是以前无法直接进行实验室研究的对象。反物质或超冷分子是此类物理实体的最新例子，它们的出现导致了科学的重大进步。这一提议的重点是一种奇异的分子对象--一组“分子超级旋转器”--一种以极高的角频率同步定向旋转的分子气体，可在超低和超快极限之间的许多数量级上进行调节。在过去的几年里，我在UBC的研究小组一直在开发各种用激光控制分子旋转的技术。对这一主题的兴趣源于这样一个事实，即分子旋转对气体的性质有很强的直接影响。分子超级旋翼的性质被认为是相当独特的。我们课题组最近对其中一些问题进行了演示和研究。这一提议的目的是首次观察和研究通过特殊设计的激光脉冲(即所谓的“光学离心机”)设置为超快旋转的分子的磁性。通过在单分子水平上感应磁场，我们提出了一种纳米磁性的超快开关。这项技术将适用于绝大多数气体，甚至环境空气。由于受到激光束的控制，磁开关有可能被远程激活，即在距离激光源一段距离的地方。

Major breakthroughs in our understanding of nature are often triggered by creating new exotic states of matter - objects previously inaccessible for direct laboratory studies. Antimatter or ultra-cold molecules are recent examples of such physical entities whose availability lead to significant advances of science. In the focus of this Proposal is an exotic molecular object - an ensemble of "molecular superrotors" - a gas of molecules set in synchronous directional rotation with extremely high angular frequency, tuneable across many orders of magnitude between ultraslow and ultrafast limits. Over the past few years, my research group at UBC has been developing various techniques of controlling molecular rotation with laser light. The interest in the subject stems from the fact that molecular rotation has a strong direct effect on the properties of gases. The properties of molecular superrotors are expected to be rather unique. Some of them have been recently demonstrated and studied by our group. The aim of this proposal is to observe, for the first time, and investigate magnetic properties of molecules set to ultrafast rotation by specially designed laser pulses, known as "optical centrifuge". By inducing magnetic field on a single-molecule level, we propose to develop an ultrafast switch of nano-scale magnetism. The technique will apply to a vast majority of gases, even ambient air. Being controlled by a laser beam, the magnetic switch could potentially be activated remotely, i.e. at a distance from the laser source.