Trapping and Cooling of Polar Molecules
Abstract
This project centered on the development of new methods to trap, cool, and detect polar molecules, with potential application across a broad range of subfields. Progress was made on several inter-related fronts. A new, simple and general source for slow and cold molecular beams was developed. This source was demonstrated to work, with several molecular species, in two regimes: one with low velocity but also low flux, and another with higher velocity but also orders of magnitude greater brightness. The latter source is particularly suitable for precision spectroscopy and collision studies; both show promise as sources for loading into traps. In parallel, we worked towards construction of a high-power microwave resonator, which can be used as a novel type of trap for polar molecules; and we devised and began to implement a new method for laser cooling of molecules from the beam. We also developed a set of ideas for trapping polar molecules and/or molecular ions near the surface of a cryogenic chip. Integration with superconducting devices on the chip holds great promise as an architecture for large-scale quantum computing, as well as for highly sensitive detection of molecules with precise spectral fingerprinting.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 06, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA532782
Entities
People
- D. Demille
Organizations
- Yale University