Department of Physics, Yale University, P.O. Box 208120, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.
Phys Rev Lett. 2018 Jul 6;121(1):013202. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.013202.
We demonstrate the efficient transfer of molecules from a magneto-optical trap into a conservative magnetic quadrupole trap. Our scheme begins with a blue-detuned optical molasses to cool SrF molecules to ≈50 μK. Next, we optically pump the molecules into a strongly trapped sublevel. This two-step process reliably transfers ≈40% of the molecules initially trapped in the magneto-optical trap into a single quantum state in the magnetic trap. Once loaded, the molecule cloud is compressed by increasing the magnetic field gradient. We observe a magnetic trap lifetime of over 1 s. This opens a promising new path to study ultracold molecular collisions, and potentially to produce quantum-degenerate molecular gases via sympathetic cooling with co-trapped atoms.
我们展示了将分子从磁光阱高效转移到保守的磁四极阱中的过程。我们的方案从蓝失谐光胶开始，将 SrF 分子冷却到约 50 μK。然后，我们用光将分子泵入一个强囚禁的亚能级。这两步过程可靠地将最初在磁光阱中捕获的约 40%的分子转移到磁阱中的单个量子态中。一旦加载，通过增加磁场梯度来压缩分子云。我们观察到磁阱的寿命超过 1 秒。这为研究超冷分子碰撞开辟了一条有前途的新途径，并有可能通过与共捕获原子的共鸣冷却来产生量子简并分子气体。
