Coherent Microwave Control of Ultracold $^{23}$Na$^{40}$K Molecules

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates coherent microwave control over ultracold $^{23}$Na$^{40}$K molecules, enabling precise manipulation of their quantum states with long lifetimes, crucial for quantum technologies.

Contribution

It introduces a method for coherent microwave control of ultracold molecules, achieving full quantum state manipulation and long collisional lifetimes in a controlled environment.

Findings

Successful transfer to a single hyperfine level in the first rotationally excited state

Collisional lifetimes exceeding 3 seconds in the excited state

Rich hyperfine structure explained by combined magnetic and electric fields

Abstract

We demonstrate coherent microwave control of rotational and hyperfine states of trapped, ultracold, and chemically stable $^{23}$Na$^{40}$K molecules. Starting with all molecules in the absolute rovibrational and hyperfine ground state, we study rotational transitions in combined magnetic and electric fields and explain the rich hyperfine structure. Following the transfer of the entire molecular ensemble into a single hyperfine level of the first rotationally excited state, $J{=}1$, we observe collisional lifetimes of more than $3\, \rm s$, comparable to those in the rovibrational ground state, $J{=}0$. Long-lived ensembles and full quantum state control are prerequisites for the use of ultracold molecules in quantum simulation, precision measurements and quantum information processing.