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Sisyphus Laser Cooling of a Polyatomic Molecule

Ivan Kozyryev, Louis Baum, Kyle Matsuda, Benjamin L. Augenbraun, Loic Anderegg, Alexander P. Sedlack, and John M. Doyle
Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 173201 – Published 24 April 2017
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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 P(N′′=1) branch of either the X˜2Σ+(000)A˜2Π1/2(000) or the X˜2Σ+(000)B˜2Σ+(000) vibronic transitions. Molecules lost into the excited vibrational states during the cooling process are repumped back through the B˜(000) state for both the (100) level of the Sr-O stretching mode and the (0200) level of the bending mode. The transverse temperature of a SrOH molecular beam is reduced in one dimension by 2 orders of magnitude to 750μK. This approach opens a path towards creating a variety of ultracold polyatomic molecules by means of direct laser cooling.

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  • Received 20 September 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.173201

© 2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Atomic, Molecular & Optical

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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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Authors & Affiliations

Ivan Kozyryev1,2,*, Louis Baum1,2, Kyle Matsuda1,2,†, Benjamin L. Augenbraun1,2, Loic Anderegg1,2, Alexander P. Sedlack1,2, and John M. Doyle1,2

  • 1Harvard-MIT Center for Ultracold Atoms, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
  • 2Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA

  • *ivan@cua.harvard.edu
  • Present address: JILA, National Institute of Standards and Technology and University of Colorado, and Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.

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Issue

Vol. 118, Iss. 17 — 28 April 2017

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