Non-adiabatic preparation of spin crystals with ultracold polar molecules

TL;DR

This paper presents a non-adiabatic method to create large ordered spin crystal states of ultracold polar molecules in optical lattices by exploiting dipole blockade and microwave-driven transitions, avoiding phase transitions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel non-adiabatic protocol for preparing large spin crystal states of polar molecules, surpassing limitations of adiabatic methods.

Findings

Enables creation of larger ordered domains

Bypasses phase transition crossing

Uses microwave-induced dipole blockade

Abstract

We study the growth dynamics of ordered structures of strongly interacting polar molecules in optical lattices. Using dipole blockade of microwave excitations, we map the system onto an interacting spin-1/2 model possessing ground states with crystalline order, and describe a way to prepare these states by non-adiabatically driving the transitions between molecular rotational levels. The proposed technique bypasses the need to cross a phase transition and allows for the creation of ordered domains of considerably larger size compared to approaches relying on adiabatic preparation.