A supersonic laser ablation beam source with narrow velocity spreads

Aggarwal, Parul; Bethlem, Hendrick L.; Boeschoten, Alexander; Borschevsky, Anastasia; Esajas, Kevin; Hao, Yongliang; Hoekstra, Steven; Jungmann, K.; Marshall, Virginia R.; Meijknecht, Thomas; Mooij, Maarten C.; Timmermans, Robertus; Touwen, A.; Ubachs, Wim; Willmann, Lorenz; Yin, Yanning; Zapara, Artem

doi:10.1063/5.0035568

Cited by 20 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…This regime arises as the ratio of the rotational constant to the natural linewidth decreases due to increasing molecular mass and size. Additionally, since photon spin molasses is not efficient for cooling molecules with rotational quanta above the capture range J c , it is likely that pre-cooling with another method such as supersonic expansion [33][34][35], buffer gas cooling [36][37][38][39][40], or sympathetic collisional cooling by laser-cooled atoms [41] would be advantageous and could extend the reach of these techniques to the sub-mK regime.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photon spin molasses for laser cooling molecular rotation

Campbell,

Augenbraun

2021

Preprint

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Laser cooling of translational motion of small molecules is performed by addressing transitions that ensure spontaneous emission cannot cause net rotational excitation. This will not be possible once the rotational splitting becomes comparable to the operational excitation linewidth, as will occur for large molecules or wide bandwidth lasers. We show theoretically that in this regime, angular momentum transfer from red-detuned Doppler cooling light can also exert a damping torque on linear molecules, cooling rotation to the same Doppler limit (typically ≈ 500 µK for molecules with ≈ 10 ns excited-state lifetimes). This cooling process is derived from photon spin, and indicates that standard optical molasses can also cool molecular rotation with no additional experimental resources.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photon spin molasses for laser cooling molecular rotation

Campbell,

Augenbraun

2021

Preprint

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“…Recent work has shown that using a gas source for the halide, for example SF 6 , can successfully generate metal halides like AlF. 91 To produce a source of Cl atoms, Cl 2 , HCl or possibly methanochlorides like CCl 4 , CHCl 3 and CH 2 Cl 2 would be reasonable candidates. There is a previous report of AlCl being produced by ablation of an Al rod exposed to Cl 2 gas, 92 but its characteristics were not described in detail.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing Pulsed-Laser Ablation Production of AlCl Molecules for Laser Cooling

Lewis,

Wang,

Daniel

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Aluminum monochloride (AlCl) has been proposed as a promising candidate for laser cooling to ultracold temperatures, and recent spectroscopy results support this prediction. It is challenging to produce large numbers of AlCl molecules because it is a highly reactive open-shell molecule and must be generated in situ. Here we show that pulsed-laser ablation of stable, non-toxic mixtures of Al with an alkali or alkaline earth chlorides, denoted XCl n , can provide a robust and reliable source of cold AlCl molecules. Both the chemical identity of XCl n and the Al:XCl n molar ratio are varied, and the yield of AlCl is monitored using absorption spectroscopy in a cryogenic gas.For KCl, the production of Al and K atoms was also monitored. We model the AlCl production in the limits of nonequilibrium recombination dominated by first-encounter events. The non-equilibrium model is in agreement with the data and also reproduces the observed trend with different XCl n precursors. We find that AlCl production is limited by the solid-state densities of Al and Cl atoms and the recondensation of Al atoms in the ablation plume. We suggest future directions for optimizing the production of cold AlCl molecules using laser ablation.

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“…III A 1). Traditional molecular beam experiments typically employ supersonic beam expansion to obtain a source of translationally cold molecules with a narrow velocity spread [61,62]. This is a straightforward, easily generalizable technique since adiabatic cooling due to the sudden expansion of a gas rests on thermodynamic principles and is therefore agnostic to the finer details of the molecular species.…”

Section: Direct Laser Coolingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantum control of molecules for fundamental physics

Mitra,

Leung,

Zelevinsky

2022

Preprint

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The extraordinary success in laser cooling, trapping, and coherent manipulation of atoms has energized the efforts in extending this exquisite control to molecules. Not only are molecules ubiquitous in nature, but the control of their quantum states offers unparalleled access to fundamental constants and possible physics beyond the Standard Model. Quantum state manipulation of molecules can enable high-precision measurements including tests of fundamental symmetries and searches for new particles and fields. At the same time, their complex internal structure presents experimental challenges to overcome in order to gain sensitivity to new physics. In this Perspective, we review recent developments in this thriving new field. Moreover, throughout the text we discuss many current and future research directions that have the potential to place molecules at the forefront of fundamental science.

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A supersonic laser ablation beam source with narrow velocity spreads

Cited by 20 publications

References 48 publications

Photon spin molasses for laser cooling molecular rotation

Photon spin molasses for laser cooling molecular rotation

Optimizing Pulsed-Laser Ablation Production of AlCl Molecules for Laser Cooling

Quantum control of molecules for fundamental physics

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