3-D Magneto-Optical Trap of Yttrium Monoxide

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the first three-dimensional magneto-optical trap of yttrium monoxide molecules, achieving cold temperatures and high densities, which advances molecular cooling techniques and suggests feasibility for trapping more complex molecules.

Contribution

First 3-D MOT of YO molecules established, enabling further cooling and trapping of complex non-linear molecules.

Findings

Loaded ~1.5×10^4 YO molecules

Achieved temperature of 7(1) mK

Paves way for microkelvin cooling of molecules

Abstract

We report three-dimensional trapping of an oxide molecule (YO), using a radio-frequency magneto-optical trap (MOT). The total number of molecules loaded is $\sim$1.5$\times10^4$ , with a temperature of 7(1)~mK. This diversifies the frontier of molecules that are laser coolable and paves the way for the second-stage narrow-line cooling in this molecule to the microkelvin regime. Futhermore, the new challenges of creating a 3-D MOT of YO resolved here indicate that MOTs of more complex non-linear molecules should be feasible as well.