Abstract
We perform magnetically assisted Sisyphus laser cooling of the triatomic free radical strontium monohydroxide (SrOH). This is achieved with principal optical cycling in the rotationally closed branch of either the or the vibronic transitions. Molecules lost into the excited vibrational states during the cooling process are repumped back through the state for both the (100) level of the Sr-O stretching mode and the level of the bending mode. The transverse temperature of a SrOH molecular beam is reduced in one dimension by 2 orders of magnitude to . This approach opens a path towards creating a variety of ultracold polyatomic molecules by means of direct laser cooling.
- Received 20 September 2016
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.173201
© 2017 American Physical Society
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Viewpoint
A Diatomic Molecule is One Atom too Few
Published 24 April 2017
The successful laser cooling of a triatomic molecule paves the way towards the study of ultracold polyatomic molecules.
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