Bonn 2025 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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MO: Fachverband Molekülphysik

MO 18: Cold Molecules and Cold Chemistry (joint session MO/Q)

MO 18.6: Vortrag

Mittwoch, 12. März 2025, 16:00–16:15, HS XVI

Laser cooling of barium monofluoride molecules — •Marian Rockenhäuser¹, Felix Kogel², Tatsam Garg¹, Jakob Weiß¹ und Tim Langen¹ — ¹TU Wien, Atominstitut, Cold Molecules and Quantum Technologies — ²Universität Stuttgart, 5. Physikalisches Institut

Barium monofluoride (BaF) molecules are sensitive probes for precision tests of fundamental symmetries. However, due to the high mass, comparatively narrow linewidth, resolved hyperfine structure, and potential branching losses through an intermediate electronic state, this molecular species is notoriously difficult to cool. We will report on the observation of Sisyphus-type forces in transversal cooling of 138BaF and the less abundant bosonic isotopologue 136BaF realizing the first isotopologue-selective laser cooling of molecules. Furthermore, we will discuss our progress towards cooling of the fermionic isotopologue 137BaF which involves optical cycling in a 112 level system. Our results are an important step towards using intense beams of barium monofluoride for precision measurement applications, including searches for the electron's electric dipole moment and nuclear anapole moments. We also expect the results to be useful for cooling other molecular species with complex level structure.

Keywords: laser cooling; barium monofluoride; isotopologue-selective; precision measurements