Single-photon loading of polar molecules into an optical trap

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel single-photon transfer scheme to load molecules into an optical trap efficiently, broadening the scope of molecules usable in quantum research without requiring closed cycling transitions.

Contribution

The paper proposes a new method for loading molecules into optical traps using a single-photon process, which is more efficient and applicable to a wider range of molecules than existing techniques.

Findings

Estimated per-shot efficiency of 0.52% for BaF molecules.

Potential to trap up to 10,000 molecules per shot.

Scheme's irreversibility allows accumulation over time.

Abstract

We propose a scheme to transfer molecules from a slow beam into an optical trap using only a single photon absorption and emission cycle. The efficiency of such a scheme is numerically explored for BaF using realistic experimental parameters. The technique makes use of the state-dependent potential in an external electric field to trap molecules from an initial velocity of order 10 m/s. A rapid optical transition at the point where the molecules come to a standstill in the electric field potential irreversibly transfers them into a ~7 mk optical lattice trap. For a pulsed Stark decelerated beam, we estimated the per-shot efficiency to be ~0.52% or up to ~10$^4$ molecules, with a potential factor 2 improvement when the fields are synchronously modulated with the arriving velocity components. The irreversibility of the scheme allows for larger numbers to be built up over time. Since this scheme does not rely on a closed cycling transition for laser cooling, it broadens the range of molecules that can be used for research on cold molecular chemistry, quantum information, and fundamental interactions in optical traps.