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Poster Session I (4pm-6pm CDT)

4:00 pm – 6:00 pm, Tuesday June 4 Session D00
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Molecule trapping in a buffer-gas-loaded optical dipole trap: a platform for future precision measurements

Poster 157
Presenter: Ashwin Singh (University of California, Berkeley)
Authors: Lothar Maisenbacher (University of California, Berkeley), Jack Mango (University of California, Berkeley), Cristian Panda (UC Berkeley), Stefan Straßer (University of California, Berkeley), Junqi Xie (University of California, Berkeley), Holger Muller (University of California, Berkeley)

Access to cold, trapped molecules has already led to improved precision measurements of the electron’s electric dipole moment [1], molecular spectra [2], and other physical quantities. It is widely anticipated that developments in molecule trapping will lead to further progress in precision physics. To this end, we describe here a platform for trapping a wide range of small, chemically stable molecules in their absolute ground state [3]. The molecules will be trapped at cryogenic temperatures by buffer-gas loading a deep optical dipole trap. The ∼10-K trap depth will be produced by a tightly-focused, 1064-nm cavity capable of reaching intensities of hundreds of GW/cm2. Molecules will be directly buffer-gas loaded into the trap using a helium buffer gas at 1.5 K. The very far-off-resonant, quasi-electrostatic trapping mechanism is insensitive to a molecule’s internal state, energy level structure, and its electric and magnetic dipole moment. This work identifies some potential applications of this trap in the context of precision measurements, including a discussion of the impact of the high-intensity light on some measurements. Additionally, we outline the experimental progress made towards realization of such a trap, including the development of robust high-intensity optical cavities, and a novel buffer-gas cell design optimized for loading the trap.

[1] Tanya S. Roussy et al., An improved bound on the electron’s electric dipole moment. Science381,46-50(2023).

[2] K. H. Leung et al., Terahertz Vibrational Molecular Clock with Systematic Uncertainty at the 10-14 level. Phys. Rev. X 13, 011047 – Published 28 March 2023

[3] Ashwin Singh et al., Dynamics of a buffer-gas-loaded, deep optical trap for molecules. Phys. Rev. Research 5, 033008 – Published 5 July 2023

Funding acknowledgement

This work was supported by the Brown Science Foundation (Brown Investigator Award), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (Grant No. 9366), and the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, National Quantum Information Science Research Centers, Quantum Systems Accelerator (QSA, No. 1009 DE-AC02-05CH11231).

POSTERS (157)