Mainz 2017 – scientific programme

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MO: Fachverband Molekülphysik

MO 2: Precision Experiments on Small Molecules

MO 2.6: Talk

Monday, March 6, 2017, 15:45–16:00, N 25

Nondestructive Detection of Polar Molecules via Rydberg Atoms — •Martin Zeppenfeld and Ferdinand Jarish — MPI für Quantenoptik, Hans Kopfermann Str. 1, 85748 Garching

Research on cold and ultracold molecules is impeded by the difficulty in many cases to efficiently detect molecules, with the choice of molecule species often influenced by the need for a suitable detection scheme. We demonstrate the possibility to efficiently and nondestructively detect basically any polar molecule species using Rydberg atoms [1]. A Rydberg atom senses the presence of a molecule based on Förster resonance energy transfer. We show that huge interaction cross sections of more than 10⁻⁶ cm² exist for low collision energies, allowing for efficient detection [1]. First results on detection of room temperature ammonia molecules with Rubidium Rydberg atoms will be presented.

[1] M. Zeppenfeld, arXiv:1611.08893 [physics.atom-ph] (2016).