Mainz 2017 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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MO: Fachverband Molekülphysik
MO 2: Precision Experiments on Small Molecules
MO 2.8: Vortrag
Montag, 6. März 2017, 16:15–16:30, N 25
Trapping and Cooling of Polar Molecules: YO and OH — •Tim Langen1,2, David Reens1, Hao Wu1, Alejandra Collopy1, Yewei Wu1, Shiqian Ding1, and Jun Ye1 — 1JILA, NIST and University of Colorado, Boulder, USA — 25. Physikalisches Institut and IQST, Universität Stuttgart, Germany
We present two experiments progressing towards directly trapping and cooling polar molecular gases to the millikelvin regime and below. First, using microwave mixing of rotational states and two vibrational repump lasers, we implement a cycling transition in the yttrium (II) monoxide (YO) molecule that is closed to the 106 level [1]. With this cycling transition, a beam of YO from a two-stage cryogenic buffer gas cell is decelerated to less than 5 m/s, slow enough to be loaded into a three-dimensional magneto-optical trap. We plan to implement a second stage of narrow-line cooling to reach below 100 microkelvin [2]. Second, we present our progress in the magnetic trapping and cooling of a gas of the dipolar hydroxyl (OH) radical [3]. Using detailed studies of electric-field-induced losses, we identify a novel Majorana-like loss mechanism that is inherently connected to the dipolar nature of the molecules. We discuss a newly developed trap design that will mitigate this loss to enable further evaporative cooling.
[1] M. Yeo et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 223003 (2015).
[2] A. L. Collopy et al., New J. Phys. 17, 055008 (2015).
[3] B. K. Stuhl et al., Nature 492, 396 (2012).