Ultracold polyatomic molecules are promising candidates for experiments in quantum science and precision searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. A key requirement is the ability to achieve full quantum control over the internal structure of the molecules. In this work, we established coherent control of individual quantum states in calcium monohydroxide (CaOH) and demonstrated a method for searching for the electron electric dipole moment (eEDM). Optically trapped, ultracold CaOH molecules were prepared in a single quantum state, polarized in an electric field, and coherently transferred into an eEDM-sensitive state where an electron spin precession measurement was performed. To extend the coherence time, we used eEDM-sensitive states with tunable, near-zero magnetic field sensitivity. Our results establish a path for eEDM searches with trapped polyatomic molecules.
Ultracold polyatomic molecules are promising candidates for experiments in quantum science and precision searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. A key requirement is the ability to achieve full quantum control over the internal structure of the molecules. In this work, we established coherent control of individual quantum states in calcium monohydroxide (CaOH) and demonstrated a method for searching for the electron electric dipole moment (eEDM). Optically trapped, ultracold CaOH molecules were prepared in a single quantum state, polarized in an electric field, and coherently transferred into an eEDM-sensitive state where an electron spin precession measurement was performed. To extend the coherence time, we used eEDM-sensitive states with tunable, near-zero magnetic field sensitivity. Our results establish a path for eEDM searches with trapped polyatomic molecules.
Polyatomic molecules contain diverse structures – including rotational and vibrational degrees of freedom, nuclear and electronic spins, and electric dipole moments – that make them promising for a range of quantum science applications. These include quantum information science, quantum simulation, studies of ultracold collisions and ultracold chemistry, and precision searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. However, maximizing the potential of polyatomic molecules for these applications requires them to be cooled to ultracold temperatures ( mK), trapped in three dimensions, and controlled at the single quantum state level. Significant progress has been made with diatomic molecules over the last fifteen years, but the increased complexity of polyatomic species (defined as molecules containing more than two atoms) makes them more challenging to control at the same level. In this thesis, we describe our work bringing a linear triatomic molecule, calcium monohydroxide (CaOH), into the quantum regime. We demonstrate laser cooling of CaOH molecules to microkelvin temperatures, confinement in a magneto-optical trap (MOT), and loading of conservative optical dipole traps and optical tweezer arrays. We characterize the lifetime of low-lying vibrational states of CaOH in optical traps, including the vibrational bending mode, whose parity-doublet states are a key resource for many applications. Next, we develop techniques for preparing CaOH molecules in a single internal quantum state and for coherently manipulating the internal state with microwave and radio-frequency fields. We also show that we can nondestructively and state-selectively detect trapped CaOH molecules, including single molecules in optical tweezers. We demonstrate the applicability of these tools to applications including precision measurements, quantum information science, and ultracold collisions. We establish a method for future CP-violating physics searches with optically trapped polyatomic molecules, by identifying states that are sensitive to the electron electric dipole moment (eEDM) and showing that these states have long coherence times in CaOH. We identify potential qubit states in the CaOH bending mode and show that they can be coherently controlled at the single-molecule level in an optical tweezer array. Finally, we observe and characterize single quantum-state-controlled collisions between ultracold CaOH molecules, and identify states in the bending mode that could potentially be used for evaporative cooling to quantum degeneracy. Compared to linear triatomic molecules, nonlinear molecules contain even more structures that can be harnessed for quantum science applications, at the cost of making them even more challenging to cool and control. Towards this goal, in this thesis we describe work demonstrating 1D laser cooling of a beam of CaOCH3, a symmetric top molecule. This contributes to a growing body of evidence that complex polyatomic molecules could soon be cooled, trapped, and controlled at ultracold temperatures.
Ultracold molecules are a promising platform for a wide range of applications in quantum science, including searches for new particles (beyond the Standard Model), quantum computing and simulation, and studies of ultracold collisions and chemistry. Over the last decade, tremendous progress has been made in developing techniques to trap diatomic molecules (molecules containing only two atoms) and cool them to ultracold temperatures using laser cooling. Polyatomic molecules (molecules containing more than two atoms) provide new, unique scientific opportunities not afforded by their diatomic counterparts and represent the next frontier in laser cooling and quantum science with molecules. In this thesis, we present our work on extending laser cooling and quantum control to polyatomic molecules. We describe our demonstration of laser cooling and the creation of a magneto-optical trap (MOT) of a polyatomic molecule, calcium monohydroxide (CaOH). We further demonstrate loading of the trapped molecules into an optical dipole trap (ODT) and loading of individual CaOH molecules into the conservative potential an optical tweezer array. We also describe our realization of a new type of MOT developed for molecules, a "conveyor belt MOT", which provides increased compression compared to traditional molecular MOTs and was discovered using numerical simulations of the CaOH MOT that were developed as part of this thesis. The increased MOT density and ODT loading afforded by the conveyor belt MOT provides the density required to perform studies of collisions between ultracold CaOH molecules. We also describe our work on the laser cooling the symmetric top molecule CaOCH₃, opening the possibility for 3-D laser cooling of even larger, more complex molecules into the ultracold regime. With the ability to laser cool and trap CaOH molecules, our most recent work has focused on developing tools for quantum control and on initial explorations of some of the new features afforded by polyatomic molecules. We describe a novel protocol established to perform a measurement of the electron's electric dipole moment ("eEDM"). Looking towards quantum information processing with polyatomic molecules, we create a new type of qubit using parity-doublet states in the bending mode of CaOH and characterize its coherence properties. Finally, we provide a brief outlook towards the future of laser cooling of polyatomic molecules for quantum science and provide a few suggestions for new directions opened up by the work presented in this thesis.
The search for a permanent electron electric dipole moment (eEDM) serves as a test of fundamental symmetry violations and of physics beyond the Standard Model. Trapped molecular ions in the 3Δ1 metastable electronic state are suitable candidates for an eEDM search due to their large effective electric fields and long electron spin coherence times. This thesis presents the quantum state manipulation and coherent spectroscopy of trapped HfF+ molecular ions in rotating bias fields for an eEDM search. The quantum state manipulation, which involves preparation of a large fraction of molecular ions in a single desired quantum state as well as rotational-state-resolved detection, is complicated by the lack of HfF+ spectroscopic information prior to the start of this thesis. We performed state preparation by first state-selectively autoionizing neutral HfF such that 35% of the HfF+ are formed in a single rovibrational level of the electronic ground state 1Σ+, and then transferring those ions into the desired Stark levels of a single hyperfine-rovibrational manifold of the 3Δ1 state. Rotational-state-resolved detection is accomplished by both laser-induced fluorescence and resonance-enhanced multi-photon photodissociation, where the latter is preferred as the state detection method of choice because its efficiency is two orders of magnitude higher compared to fluorescence. With the quantum state manipulation techniques developed, we performed Ramsey spectroscopy of the trapped HfF+ ions in the presence of rotating bias electric and magnetic fields, demonstrating electron spin coherence times as long as 150 ms. Finally, we present a preliminary measurement of the eEDM at the |de| < 10-25 e cm level.
We present the conceptual design of an experiment to measure the electron's electric dipole moment (eEDM) using 138BaOH molecules in an optical lattice. The BaOH molecule is laser-coolable and highly sensitive to the eEDM, making it an attractive candidate for such a precision measurement, and capturing it in an optical lattice offers potentially very long coherence times. We study possibilities and limitations of this approach, identify the most crucial limiting factors and ways to overcome them. The proposed apparatus can reach a statistical error of 10−30ecm by measuring spin precession on a total number of 5×109 molecules over a span of 120 days.
Collisions between ultracold calcium monohydroxide (CaOH) molecules are realized and studied. Inelastic collision rate constants are measured for CaOH prepared in ground and excited vibrational states, and the electric field dependence of these rates is measured for molecules in single quantum states of the parity-doubled bending mode. Theoretical calculations of collision rate coefficients are performed and found to agree with measured values. The lowest collisional loss rates are for states with repulsive long-range potentials that shield ultracold molecules from loss channels at short distance. These results unveil the collisional behavior of parity-doublet molecules in the ultracold regime and lay the foundation for future experiments to evaporatively cool polyatomic molecules to quantum degeneracy.
Heavy polar diatomic molecules are the leading candidates in searches for the permanent electric-dipole moment of the electron (eEDM). Next-generation eEDM search experiments ideally require extremely large coherence times, in large ensembles of trapped molecules that have a high sensitivity to the eEDM. We consider a family of molecules, mercury--alkali-metal diatomics, that can be feasibly produced from ultracold atoms. We present calculations of the effective electric fields experienced by the electron in these molecules. The combination of reasonably large effective electric fields, and the possibility of obtaining trapped ultracold samples, leads us to identify these molecules as favorable candidates for eEDM search experiments.