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arXiv:1107.2821 · Physical Review Letters

Storage and Adiabatic Cooling of Polar Molecules in a Microstructured Trap

Barbara G. U. Englert, Manuel Mielenz, Christian Sommer, Josef Bayerl, M. Motsch, Pepijn W. H. Pinkse, Gerhard Rempe, Martin Zeppenfeld

Published Dec 21, 2011• 44 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We present a versatile electric trap for the exploration of a wide range of quantum phenomena in the interaction between polar molecules. The trap combines tunable fields, homogeneous over most of the trap volume, with steep gradient fields at the trap boundary. An initial sample of up to 10(8), CH(3)F molecules is trapped for as long as 60 s, with a 1/e storage time of 12 s. Adiabatic cooling down to 120 mK is achieved by slowly expanding the trap volume. The trap combines all ingredients for opto-electrical cooling, which, together with the extraordinarily long storage times, brings field-controlled quantum-mechanical collision and reaction experiments within reach.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.107.263003

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We present a versatile electric trap for the exploration of a wide range of quantum phenomena in the interaction between polar molecules. The trap combines tunable fields, homogeneous over most of the trap volume, with steep gradient fields at the trap boundary. An initial sample of up to 10(8), CH(3)F molecules is trapped for as long as 60 s, with a 1/e storage time of 12 s. Adiabatic cooling down to 120 mK is achieved by slowly expanding the trap volume. The trap combines all ingredients for opto-electrical cooling, which, together with the extraordinarily long storage times, brings field-controlled quantum-mechanical collision and reaction experiments within reach.
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We present an optoelectrical cooling scheme for polar molecules based on a Sisyphus-type cooling cycle in suitably tailored electric trapping fields. Dissipation is provided by spontaneous vibrational decay in a closed level scheme found in symmetric-top rotors comprising six low-field-seeking rovibrational states. A generic trap design is presented. Suitable molecules are identified with vibrational decay rates on the order of 100 Hz. A simulation of the cooling process shows that the molecular temperature can be reduced from 1 K to 1 mK in approximately 10 s. The molecules remain electrically trapped during this time, indicating that the ultracold regime can be reached in an experimentally feasible scheme.
An electrostatic trap for polar molecules is proposed. Loading and trapping of polar molecules can be realized by applying different voltages to the two electrodes of the trap. For ND 3 molecular beams centered at ∼10 m/s, a high loading efficiency of ∼67% can be obtained, as confirmed by our Monte Carlo simulations. The volume of our trap is as large as ∼3.6 cm 3 , suitable for study of the adiabatic cooling of trapped molecules. Our simulations indicate that trapped ND 3 molecules can be cooled from ∼23.3 mK to 1.47 mK by reducing the trapping voltages on the electrodes from 50.0 kV to 1.00 kV.
Reaching high densities is a key step toward cold-collision experiments with polyatomic molecules. We use a cryofuge to load up to $2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{7}$ CH3F{\mathrm{CH}}_{3}\mathrm{F}CH3​F molecules into a boxlike electric trap, achieving densities up to 107/cm3{10}^{7}/{\mathrm{cm}}^{3}107/cm3 at temperatures around 350 mK where the elastic dipolar cross section exceeds $7\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}12}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$. We measure inelastic rate constants below $4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}8}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{cm}}^{3}/\mathrm{s}$ and control these by tuning a homogeneous electric field that covers a large fraction of the trap volume. Comparison to ab initio calculations gives excellent agreement with dipolar relaxation. Our techniques and findings are generic and immediately relevant for other cold-molecule collision experiments.
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