Measurement of the variation of electron-to-proton mass ratio using ultracold molecules produced from laser-cooled atoms

Kobayashi, Jun; Ogino, Akihiro; Inouye, S.

doi:10.1038/s41467-019-11761-1

Cited by 56 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…So far, the most stringent limits come from atomic clock measurements [97,98], but molecular clocks are likely to contribute valuable information in the near future. For example, ultracold KRb molecules were recently used to set limits on the temporal variation of μ [99], a lattice clock of Sr 2 molecules is being developed [100], a molecular fountain of ultracold ammonia molecules has been demonstrated and could be used to search for variations in μ [87], and clocks based on the vibrational transitions of laser-cooled molecules look promising [101].…”

Section: Testing Fundamental Physicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

From Hot Beams to Trapped Ultracold Molecules: Motivations, Methods and Future Directions

Fitch

Tarbutt

2021

Molecular Beams in Physics and Chemistry

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Over the past century, the molecular beam methods pioneered by Otto Stern have advanced our knowledge and understanding of the world enormously. Stern and his colleagues used these new techniques to measure the magnetic dipole moments of fundamental particles with results that challenged the prevailing ideas in fundamental physics at that time. Similarly, recent measurements of fundamental electric dipole moments challenge our present day theories of what lies beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. Measurements of the electron’s electric dipole moment (eEDM) rely on the techniques invented by Stern and later developed by Rabi and Ramsey. We give a brief review of this historical development and the current status of eEDM measurements. These experiments, and many others, are likely to benefit from ultracold molecules produced by laser cooling. We explain how laser cooling can be applied to molecules, review recent progress in this field, and outline some eagerly anticipated applications.

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Section: Testing Fundamental Physicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

From Hot Beams to Trapped Ultracold Molecules: Motivations, Methods and Future Directions

Fitch

Tarbutt

2021

Molecular Beams in Physics and Chemistry

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“…Molecules serve as natural test beds for molecular quantum electrodynamics [1][2][3][4], in addition to tests of beyond-Standard-Model physics such as searches for T -symmetry violation [5][6][7][8][9][10], dark matter [11][12][13], time variation of fundamental constants [14][15][16][17][18], and non-Newtonian gravity [19]. In this regard, alkaline-earth-metal molecules represent an exciting frontier since their closed-shell structure lead to 1 Σ ground potentials that are naturally insensitive to external perturbations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultracold $^{88}\rm{Sr}_2$ molecules in the absolute ground state

Leung,

Tiberi,

Iritani

et al. 2021

Preprint

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We report efficient all-optical creation of an ultracold gas of alkalineearth-metal dimers, 88 Sr 2 , in their absolute ground state. Starting with weakly bound singlet molecules formed by narrow-line photoassociation in an optical lattice, followed by stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) via a singlet-dominant channel in the (1)0 + u excited potential, we prepare pure samples of more than 5500 molecules in X 1 Σ + g (v = 0, J = 0). We observe two-body collisional loss rates close to the universal limit for both the least bound and most bound vibrational states in X 1 Σ + g . We demonstrate the enhancement of STIRAP efficiency in a magic-wavelength optical lattice where thermal decoherence is eliminated. Our results pave the way for the use of alkaline-earth-metal dimers for high-precision spectroscopy, and indicate favorable prospects for robust quantum state preparation of ultracold molecules involving closedshell atoms, as well as molecule assembly in deep optical traps tuned to a magic wavelength.

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“…11 Extending laser cooling techniques to molecules could open up completely new directions of research, such as controlled chemical reactions, [12][13][14][15][16][17] quantum simulation of strongly interacting systems, 18,19 searches for physics beyond the Standard Model, and precision tests of fundamental theories. [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] The large electric dipole moments of polar molecules also makes possible the creation of arrays of entangled molecular qubits that have been proposed as a novel platform for quantum computing. [33][34][35] Given these potential applications, tremendous experimental effort has been put into the field in recent years, resulting in successful laser cooling and magneto-optical trapping of several diatomic species such as CaF, [36][37][38] SrF, 39 and YO.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing Pulsed-Laser Ablation Production of AlCl Molecules for Laser Cooling

Lewis,

Wang,

Daniel

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Aluminum monochloride (AlCl) has been proposed as a promising candidate for laser cooling to ultracold temperatures, and recent spectroscopy results support this prediction. It is challenging to produce large numbers of AlCl molecules because it is a highly reactive open-shell molecule and must be generated in situ. Here we show that pulsed-laser ablation of stable, non-toxic mixtures of Al with an alkali or alkaline earth chlorides, denoted XCl n , can provide a robust and reliable source of cold AlCl molecules. Both the chemical identity of XCl n and the Al:XCl n molar ratio are varied, and the yield of AlCl is monitored using absorption spectroscopy in a cryogenic gas.For KCl, the production of Al and K atoms was also monitored. We model the AlCl production in the limits of nonequilibrium recombination dominated by first-encounter events. The non-equilibrium model is in agreement with the data and also reproduces the observed trend with different XCl n precursors. We find that AlCl production is limited by the solid-state densities of Al and Cl atoms and the recondensation of Al atoms in the ablation plume. We suggest future directions for optimizing the production of cold AlCl molecules using laser ablation.

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Measurement of the variation of electron-to-proton mass ratio using ultracold molecules produced from laser-cooled atoms

Cited by 56 publications

References 21 publications

From Hot Beams to Trapped Ultracold Molecules: Motivations, Methods and Future Directions

From Hot Beams to Trapped Ultracold Molecules: Motivations, Methods and Future Directions

Ultracold $^{88}\rm{Sr}_2$ molecules in the absolute ground state

Optimizing Pulsed-Laser Ablation Production of AlCl Molecules for Laser Cooling

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