Optical cycling of AlF molecules
Aluminium monofluoride (AlF) is a promising candidate for laser cooling and trapping at high densities. We show efficient production of AlF in a bright, pulsed cryogenic buffer gas beam, and demonstrate rapid optical cycling on the Q rotational lines of the A ^1 Π ↔ X ^1 Σ ^+ transition. We measure...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2021-01-01
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| Series: | New Journal of Physics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ac06e5 |
| _version_ | 1797750119759609856 |
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| author | S Hofsäss M Doppelbauer S C Wright S Kray B G Sartakov J Pérez-Ríos G Meijer S Truppe |
| author_facet | S Hofsäss M Doppelbauer S C Wright S Kray B G Sartakov J Pérez-Ríos G Meijer S Truppe |
| author_sort | S Hofsäss |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Aluminium monofluoride (AlF) is a promising candidate for laser cooling and trapping at high densities. We show efficient production of AlF in a bright, pulsed cryogenic buffer gas beam, and demonstrate rapid optical cycling on the Q rotational lines of the A ^1 Π ↔ X ^1 Σ ^+ transition. We measure the brightness of the molecular beam to be >10 ^12 molecules per steradian per pulse in a single rotational state and present a new method to determine its velocity distribution in a single shot. The photon scattering rate of the optical cycling scheme is measured using three different methods, and is compared to theoretical predictions of the optical Bloch equations and a simplified rate equation model. Despite the large number of Zeeman sublevels (up to 216 for the Q(4) transition) involved, a high scattering rate of at least 17(2) × 10 ^6 s ^−1 can be sustained using a single, fixed-frequency laser without the need to modulate the polarisation. We deflect the molecu-lar beam using the radiation pressure force and measure an acceleration of 8.7(1.5) × 10 ^5 m s ^−2 . Losses from the optical cycle due to vibrational branching to X ^1 Σ ^+ , v ″ = 1 are addressed efficiently with a single repump laser. Further, we investigate two other loss channels, parity mixing by stray electric fields and photo-ionisation. The upper bounds for these effects are sufficiently low to allow loading into a magneto‐optical trap. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:28:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0977be5e9c814309b3b96ec99e603487 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1367-2630 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:28:03Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | New Journal of Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-0977be5e9c814309b3b96ec99e6034872023-08-08T15:36:24ZengIOP PublishingNew Journal of Physics1367-26302021-01-0123707500110.1088/1367-2630/ac06e5Optical cycling of AlF moleculesS Hofsäss0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6805-7044M Doppelbauer1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6288-0256S C Wright2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2431-5624S Kray3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8599-3800B G Sartakov4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9498-7587J Pérez-Ríos5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9491-9859G Meijer6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9669-8340S Truppe7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0121-6538Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft , Faradayweg 4-6, 14195 Berlin, GermanyFritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft , Faradayweg 4-6, 14195 Berlin, GermanyFritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft , Faradayweg 4-6, 14195 Berlin, GermanyFritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft , Faradayweg 4-6, 14195 Berlin, GermanyProkhorov General Physics Institute , Russian Academy of Sciences, Vavilovstreet 38, 119991 Moscow, RussiaFritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft , Faradayweg 4-6, 14195 Berlin, GermanyFritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft , Faradayweg 4-6, 14195 Berlin, GermanyFritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft , Faradayweg 4-6, 14195 Berlin, GermanyAluminium monofluoride (AlF) is a promising candidate for laser cooling and trapping at high densities. We show efficient production of AlF in a bright, pulsed cryogenic buffer gas beam, and demonstrate rapid optical cycling on the Q rotational lines of the A ^1 Π ↔ X ^1 Σ ^+ transition. We measure the brightness of the molecular beam to be >10 ^12 molecules per steradian per pulse in a single rotational state and present a new method to determine its velocity distribution in a single shot. The photon scattering rate of the optical cycling scheme is measured using three different methods, and is compared to theoretical predictions of the optical Bloch equations and a simplified rate equation model. Despite the large number of Zeeman sublevels (up to 216 for the Q(4) transition) involved, a high scattering rate of at least 17(2) × 10 ^6 s ^−1 can be sustained using a single, fixed-frequency laser without the need to modulate the polarisation. We deflect the molecu-lar beam using the radiation pressure force and measure an acceleration of 8.7(1.5) × 10 ^5 m s ^−2 . Losses from the optical cycle due to vibrational branching to X ^1 Σ ^+ , v ″ = 1 are addressed efficiently with a single repump laser. Further, we investigate two other loss channels, parity mixing by stray electric fields and photo-ionisation. The upper bounds for these effects are sufficiently low to allow loading into a magneto‐optical trap.https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ac06e5laser coolingcold moleculesbuffer gas cooling |
| spellingShingle | S Hofsäss M Doppelbauer S C Wright S Kray B G Sartakov J Pérez-Ríos G Meijer S Truppe Optical cycling of AlF molecules New Journal of Physics laser cooling cold molecules buffer gas cooling |
| title | Optical cycling of AlF molecules |
| title_full | Optical cycling of AlF molecules |
| title_fullStr | Optical cycling of AlF molecules |
| title_full_unstemmed | Optical cycling of AlF molecules |
| title_short | Optical cycling of AlF molecules |
| title_sort | optical cycling of alf molecules |
| topic | laser cooling cold molecules buffer gas cooling |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ac06e5 |
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