Detection of ultracold molecules using an optical cavity

TL;DR

This paper presents a theoretical study of non-destructive detection methods for ultracold molecules using a Fabry-Perot cavity, focusing on vacuum Rabi splitting and electromagnetically induced transparency to enable sensitive detection without disturbing the molecular state.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical framework for non-destructive ultracold molecule detection using cavity QED techniques with realistic parameters, highlighting conditions for effective EIT-based detection.

Findings

Identified parameters for effective electromagnetically induced transparency detection.

Quantified molecular state occupancy during cavity interactions.

Demonstrated the feasibility of non-destructive detection with realistic system values.

Abstract

We theoretically study non-destructive detection of ultracold molecules, using a Fabry-Perot cavity. Specifically, we consider vacuum Rabi splitting where we demonstrate the use of collective strong coupling for detection of molecules with many participating energy levels. We also consider electromagnetically induced transparency and transient response of light for the molecules interacting with a Fabry-Perot cavity mode, as a mean for non-destructive detection. We identify the parameters that are required for the detection of molecules in the cavity electromagnetically induced transparency configuration. The theoretical analysis for these processes is parametrized with realistic values of both, the molecule and the cavity. For each process, we quantify the state occupancy of the molecules interacting with the cavity and determine to what extent the population does not change during a detection cycle.