Microwave state transfer and adiabatic dynamics of magnetically trapped polar molecules

TL;DR

This paper investigates the microwave-induced state transfer and adiabatic dynamics of magnetically trapped polar molecules, specifically OH, under mixed electric and magnetic fields, revealing complex spectra and trap loss mechanisms.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed characterization of avoided crossings in OH molecules using microwave transfer and Landau-Zener modeling in mixed fields.

Findings

Microwave transfer effectively probes Zeeman sublevel crossings.

Landau-Zener model accurately describes trap dynamics.

Insights into polar radical behavior in external fields.

Abstract

Cold and ultracold polar molecules with nonzero electronic angular momentum are of great interest for studies in quantum chemistry and control, investigations of novel quantum systems, and precision measurement. However, in mixed electric and magnetic fields, these molecules are generically subject to a large set of avoided crossings among their Zeeman sublevels; in magnetic traps, these crossings lead to distorted potentials and trap loss from electric bias fields. We have characterized these crossings in OH by microwave-transferring trapped OH molecules from the upper |f; M = +3/2> parity state to the lower |e; +3/2> state and observing their trap dynamics under an applied electric bias field. Our observations are very well described by a simple Landau-Zener model, yielding insight to the rich spectra and dynamics of polar radicals in mixed external fields.