Single-Photon Molecular Cooling

TL;DR

This paper introduces a universal molecular cooling technique based on single-photon absorption and emission, enabling cooling of diverse molecules without cycling transitions, by trapping molecules at classical turning points.

Contribution

It extends atomic cooling methods to molecules, allowing cooling of paramagnetic or polar molecules without the need for cycling transitions.

Findings

Method successfully extends atomic cooling to molecules.

Can be applied to any paramagnetic or polar molecule.

Circumvents the need for cycling transitions.

Abstract

We propose a general method to cool the translational motion of molecules. Our method is an extension of single photon atomic cooling which was successfully implemented in our laboratory. Requiring a single event of absorption followed by a spontaneous emission, this method circumvents the need for a cycling transition and can be applied to any paramagnetic or polar molecule. In our approach, trapped molecules would be captured near their classical turning points in an optical dipole or RF-trap following an irreversible transition process.