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The Journal of Chemical Physics

Manipulating external degrees of freedom with intense light: Laser focusing and trapping of molecules

Tamar Seideman

Published Feb 15, 1997• 102 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The possibility of focusing and trapping molecules in the intensity gradient of a moderately intense laser field is shown. A fully quantum-mechanical and a hybrid quantum-classical model are developed and both the case of a near-resonance and that of a far-off-resonance field are studied numerically and analytically. Molecular focusing is obtained when the ratio between the kinetic energy and the field-matter interaction exceeds unity (but remains small). In this energy regime the laser beam serves as a lens for a beam of molecules. The properties of the “molecular lens” are analyzed and the experimental conditions required to focus molecules are examined. We propose the application of laser focusing to nanoscale deposition onto, and etching of a substrate and describe a possible setup to that end. Molecular trapping is obtained as the strong interaction limit of a general “molecular optics” scheme.

DOI
10.1063/1.473351

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The possibility of focusing and trapping molecules in the intensity gradient of a moderately intense laser field is shown. A fully quantum-mechanical and a hybrid quantum-classical model are developed and both the case of a near-resonance and that of a far-off-resonance field are studied numerically and analytically. Molecular focusing is obtained when the ratio between the kinetic energy and the field-matter interaction exceeds unity (but remains small). In this energy regime the laser beam serves as a lens for a beam of molecules. The properties of the “molecular lens” are analyzed and the experimental conditions required to focus molecules are examined. We propose the application of laser focusing to nanoscale deposition onto, and etching of a substrate and describe a possible setup to that end. Molecular trapping is obtained as the strong interaction limit of a general “molecular optics” scheme.
We discuss the possibility of manipulating the center-of-mass motion of molecules using the nonlinear interaction of a moderately intense, long-pulse laser field with the molecular polarizability tensor. Recent theoretical work demonstrating the possibility of focusing and trapping molecules is extended to consider the effects of circularly and elliptically polarized light and the effect of nonspherical laser optics. The aberrations affecting the quality of the “molecular lens” are analyzed and the means by which they can be minimized are discussed. Molecular focusing is extended to a general field of molecular optics; the possibilities of steering, reflecting, and collimating molecular beams are illustrated. Application of the mechanical force of light to disperse and separate species according to their mass, velocity, or quantum state is proposed.
We develop a general framework for describing the interaction of molecules with a nonperturbative intensity gradient and note several limits, including the two-level Hamiltonian of atom trapping and the quasistatic Hamiltonian of molecular optics. The theory is used to propose a new molecular optics scheme which complements previous work in the area of spatial manipulation of molecules in intense fields by introducing the possibility of reflecting molecules with light. Repulsive interaction obtains in the limit of small level spacings as compared to the field frequency, attained by exciting the molecules to high Rydberg states. Some of the potential applications of the repulsive interaction are illustrated and others are noted. We address the problem of molecular alignment in intense laser fields and describe the possibility of simultaneously focussing the center-of-mass motion of molecules and aligning their figure axis after exit from the laser focus, under field-free conditions.
Fundamental interaction processes between atoms and photons are exploited to control external degrees of freedom of the atoms. Laser light, when properly tuned near an atomic resonance, exerts such forces that the atoms are repelled from or attracted to the regions with low light intensities. We use these forces to manipulate atom beams on nanometer-scale. In the simplest approach to nanofabrication via atom optics, a laser standing wave serves as a 'mask' through which the atoms are deposited onto a substrate. In this thesis we first present the modeling results on the focusing properties of a standing wave laser field and on the surface diffusion and growth phenomena in laser-focused atomic deposition. The development of our experimental facility for laser-manipulated deposition with chromium atoms (based on the obtained modeling results) is reported on. Thereafter, we demonstrate laser manipulation of chromium atoms and fabrication of nanostructures with these atoms. The results obtained in Nijmegen and also those obtained in collaboration with J.J. McClelland's group from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA) are analyzed with the aim of understanding the role of atom-optical and surface growth phenomena in the fabrication process of laser-focused nanostructures
Abstract Many areas of physics—precision measurements, quantum information, and physical chemistry, to name a few—are starting to benefit from the enormous advantages offered by cold and ultracold polar molecules. Molecules have more states, more interactions, and more chemical properties compared to atoms, which make them exciting to study but difficult to tame. In particular, the powerful techniques of atomic laser cooling cannot be naïvely applied to molecules due to their complicated structure. Developments over the past few years have made directly laser cooled and trapped molecules a reality, and now much effort is focused on making these samples larger, denser, and colder—an important step to realizing many of their exciting applications. A careful experimental and numerical study by Truppe et al (2017 New J. Phys. 19 022001 ) demonstrates a significant improvement and advance in understanding of one of the most limiting steps in laser cooling and trapping of molecules—slowing them from a molecular beam to a near-standstill, with small enough kinetic energy that they can be loaded into a trap.
Abstract The extension of laser cooling and trapping techniques from atoms to molecules is currently the subject of intense and growing interest. Molecular laser cooling and trapping offers a general technique applicable to a variety of molecules with different properties and internal structures and is well-suited to the growing list of proposed applications for ultracold molecules. The recent development of optical cycling schemes for specific molecular species now allow each molecule to scatter up to ∼10 6 photons. This has proven sufficient for multiple groups to laser cool and slow molecular beams and, notably, capture molecules in magneto-optical traps (MOTs) and cool them to ultracold temperatures. MOTs are the workhorse technique for atomic physics in the ultracold regime and today’s molecular MOTs represent a powerful starting point for the study and manipulation of ultracold molecular gases. This Topical Review presents a summary of the progress made in this new and emerging field.
The goal of the present article is to review the major developments that have led to the current understanding of molecule–field interactions and experimental methods for manipulating molecules with electromagnetic fields. Molecule–field interactions are at the core of several, seemingly distinct areas of molecular physics. This is reflected in the organisation of this article, which includes sections on field control of molecular beams, external field traps for cold molecules, control of molecular orientation and molecular alignment, manipulation of molecules by non-conservative forces, ultracold molecules and ultracold chemistry, controlled many-body phenomena, entanglement of molecules and dipole arrays, and stability of molecular systems in high-frequency super-intense laser fields. The article contains 852 references.