Fast optical transport of ultracold molecules over long distances
Abstract
Optically trapped laser-cooled polar molecules hold promise for new science and technology in quantum information and quantum simulation. Large numerical aperture optical access and long trap lifetimes are needed for many studies, but these requirements are challenging to achieve in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) vacuum chamber that is connected to a cryogenic buffer gas beam source, as is the case for all molecule laser cooling experiments so far. Long distance transport of molecules greatly eases fulfilling these requirements as molecules are placed into a region separate from the MOT chamber. We realize a fast transport method for ultracold molecules based on an electronically focus-tunable lens combined with an optical lattice. The high transport speed is achieved by the 1D red-detuned optical lattice, which is generated by interference of a focus-tunable laser beam and a focus-fixed laser beam. Efficiency of 48(8)% is realized in the transport of ultracold calcium monofluoride (CaF) molecules over 46 cm distance in 50 ms, with a moderate heating from 32(2) μK to 53(4) μK. Positional stability of the molecular cloud allows for stable loading of an optical tweezer array with single molecules.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2022
- Source ID
- 10.1088/1367-2630/ac900f
Entities
People
- Derick Gonzalez-acevedo
- Eunmi Chae
- John M. Doyle
- Kang-Kuen Ni
- Loic Anderegg
- Scarlett S. Yu
- Sean Burchesky
- Wolfgang Ketterle
- Yicheng Bao
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Army Research Office
- National Research Foundation of Korea
- National Science Foundation
- Office of Science