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Interaction between polar molecules subject to a far-off-resonant optical field: entangled dipoles up- or down-holding each other

Lemeshko, M., Friedrich, B.

Published Aug 20, 2012• 11 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

We show that the electric dipole–dipole interaction between a pair of polar molecules undergoes an all-out transformation when superimposed by a far-off-resonant optical field. The combined interaction potential becomes tunable by variation of wavelength, polarisation and intensity of the optical field and its dependence on the intermolecular separation exhibits a crossover from an inverse-power to an oscillating behaviour. The ability thereby offered to control molecular interactions opens up avenues toward the creation and manipulation of novel phases of ultracold polar gases among whose characteristics is a long-range entanglement of the dipoles' mutual orientation. We devised an accurate analytic model of such optical-field-dressed dipole–dipole interaction potentials, which enables a straightforward access to the optical-field parameters required for the design of intermolecular interactions in the laboratory.

Related papers

Interaction between polar molecules subject to a far-off-resonant optical field: entangled dipoles up- or down-holding each other

Mikhail Lemeshko, Břetislav Friedrich

We show that the electric dipole–dipole interaction between a pair of polar molecules undergoes an all-out transformation when superimposed by a far-off-resonant optical field. The combined interaction potential becomes tunable by variation of wavelength, polarisation and intensity of the optical field and its dependence on the intermolecular separation exhibits a crossover from an inverse-power to an oscillating behaviour. The ability thereby offered to control molecular interactions opens up avenues toward the creation and manipulation of novel phases of ultracold polar gases among whose characteristics is a long-range entanglement of the dipoles' mutual orientation. We devised an accurate analytic model of such optical-field-dressed dipole–dipole interaction potentials, which enables a straightforward access to the optical-field parameters required for the design of intermolecular interactions in the laboratory.

arXiv:1108.4583•Molecular Physics•Jun 6, 2012•10 citations

Shaping interactions between polar molecules with far-off-resonant light

Mikhail Lemeshko

We show that dressing polar molecules with a far-off-resonant optical field leads to new types of intermolecular potentials, which undergo a crossover from the inverse power to oscillating behavior depending on the intermolecular distance, and whose parameters can be tuned by varying the laser intensity and wavelength. We present analytic expressions for the potential energy surfaces, thereby providing direct access to the parameters of an optical field required to design intermolecular interactions experimentally.

arXiv:1104.1046•Physical Review A•May 27, 2011•17 citations

Long-range interactions between polar alkali-metal diatoms in external electric fields

Maxence Lepers, Romain Véxiau, M Aymar +2 more

We computed the long-range interactions between two identical polar bialkali molecules in their rovibronic ground level for all ten species involving Li, Na, K, Rb, and Cs, using accurate quantum chemistry results combined with available spectroscopic data. A huge van der Waals interaction is found for eight species in free space. The competition of the van der Waals interaction with the dipole-dipole interaction induced by an external electric field parallel or perpendicular to the intermolecular axis is investigated by varying the electric-field magnitude and the intermolecular distance. Our calculations predict a regime with the mutual orientation of the two molecules but with no preferential direction in the laboratory frame. A mechanism for the stimulated one-photon radiative association of a pair of ultracold polar molecules into ultracold tetramers is proposed, which would open the way towards the optical manipulation of ultracold polyatomic molecules.

arXiv:1305.5769•Physical Review A•Sep 26, 2013•40 citations

Manipulation of Molecules by Combined Permanent and Induced Dipole Forces

Břetislav Friedrich

This chapter describes a versatile technique to control molecular rotation and translation. The technique is based on the combined effect of external electric fields that act concurrently on the molecular permanent and induced dipole moments. This synergistic effect arises for any polar molecule, as only an anisotropic polarizability, along with a permanent dipole moment, is required. This is always available in polar molecules. The effect of the combined fields can be achieved either by superimposing an electrostatic and a far-off resonant optical field (i.e., one that supplies electric field strength but does not cause transitions) that act, respectively, on the molecule's permanent and induced electric dipole, or by making use of a unipolar electromagnetic pulse that seizes the permanent and induced dipole moments simultaneously. If the combined electric fields are homogeneous, only molecular rotation is affected, whereas inhomogeneous fields affect both molecular rotation and translation. As noted in the chapter, the ability to manipulate molecular rotation and translation has wide-ranging applications – in research areas as diverse as reaction dynamics, spectroscopy, higher harmonic generation and molecular orbital imaging, the focusing and trapping of molecules, as well as quantum simulation and computing.

Royal Society of Chemistry eBooks•Mar 5, 2021•3 citations

Tuning interactions between static-field-shielded polar molecules with microwaves

Christopher J. Ho, Joy Dutta, Bijit Mukherjee +2 more

The ability to tune interparticle interactions is one of the main advantages of using ultracold quantum gases for quantum simulation of many-body physics. Current experiments with ultracold polar molecules employ shielding with microwave or static electric fields to prevent destructive collisional losses. The interaction potential of microwave-shielded molecules can be tuned by using microwaves of two different polarisations, while for static-field-shielded molecules the tunability of interactions is more limited and depends on the particular species. In this work, we propose a general method to tune the interactions between static-field-shielded molecules by applying a microwave field. We carry out coupled-channel scattering calculations in a field-dressed basis set to determine loss rate coefficients and scattering lengths. We find that both the s-wave scattering length and the dipole length can be widely tuned by changing the parameters of the microwave field, while maintaining strong suppression of lossy collisions.

cond-mat.quant-gasCross-listedarXiv:2602.03225•Physical Review Research•Feb 4, 2026•0 citations

Ultracold polar molecules for quantum science and technology

Philip D. Gregory, Simon L. Cornish

Ultracold polar molecules present a rich platform for experimental quantum science leveraging their unique properties. Of particular relevance is the intrinsic electric dipole moment of the molecule, which results in strong coupling to microwave fields and can be used to engineer long-range, anisotropic, and tunable dipole-dipole interactions. Such interactions can generate entanglement between molecules and enable the study of novel quantum many-body phenomena in parameter regimes inaccessible in other systems. Modern experiments in optical tweezers and optical lattices have demonstrated controlled interactions between molecules in coherent quantum states, and recently bulk gases of molecules have been cooled to quantum degeneracy. Motivated by these landmark advances, we present this article to explain many of the key concepts relevant to current research in the field.

Contemporary Physics•Oct 26, 2026•0 citations
We show that the electric dipole–dipole interaction between a pair of polar molecules undergoes an all-out transformation when superimposed by a far-off-resonant optical field. The combined interaction potential becomes tunable by variation of wavelength, polarisation and intensity of the optical field and its dependence on the intermolecular separation exhibits a crossover from an inverse-power to an oscillating behaviour. The ability thereby offered to control molecular interactions opens up avenues toward the creation and manipulation of novel phases of ultracold polar gases among whose characteristics is a long-range entanglement of the dipoles' mutual orientation. We devised an accurate analytic model of such optical-field-dressed dipole–dipole interaction potentials, which enables a straightforward access to the optical-field parameters required for the design of intermolecular interactions in the laboratory.
We show that the electric dipole–dipole interaction between a pair of polar molecules undergoes an all-out transformation when superimposed by a far-off-resonant optical field. The combined interaction potential becomes tunable by variation of wavelength, polarisation and intensity of the optical field and its dependence on the intermolecular separation exhibits a crossover from an inverse-power to an oscillating behaviour. The ability thereby offered to control molecular interactions opens up avenues toward the creation and manipulation of novel phases of ultracold polar gases among whose characteristics is a long-range entanglement of the dipoles' mutual orientation. We devised an accurate analytic model of such optical-field-dressed dipole–dipole interaction potentials, which enables a straightforward access to the optical-field parameters required for the design of intermolecular interactions in the laboratory.
We show that dressing polar molecules with a far-off-resonant optical field leads to new types of intermolecular potentials, which undergo a crossover from the inverse power to oscillating behavior depending on the intermolecular distance, and whose parameters can be tuned by varying the laser intensity and wavelength. We present analytic expressions for the potential energy surfaces, thereby providing direct access to the parameters of an optical field required to design intermolecular interactions experimentally.
We computed the long-range interactions between two identical polar bialkali molecules in their rovibronic ground level for all ten species involving Li, Na, K, Rb, and Cs, using accurate quantum chemistry results combined with available spectroscopic data. A huge van der Waals interaction is found for eight species in free space. The competition of the van der Waals interaction with the dipole-dipole interaction induced by an external electric field parallel or perpendicular to the intermolecular axis is investigated by varying the electric-field magnitude and the intermolecular distance. Our calculations predict a regime with the mutual orientation of the two molecules but with no preferential direction in the laboratory frame. A mechanism for the stimulated one-photon radiative association of a pair of ultracold polar molecules into ultracold tetramers is proposed, which would open the way towards the optical manipulation of ultracold polyatomic molecules.
This chapter describes a versatile technique to control molecular rotation and translation. The technique is based on the combined effect of external electric fields that act concurrently on the molecular permanent and induced dipole moments. This synergistic effect arises for any polar molecule, as only an anisotropic polarizability, along with a permanent dipole moment, is required. This is always available in polar molecules. The effect of the combined fields can be achieved either by superimposing an electrostatic and a far-off resonant optical field (i.e., one that supplies electric field strength but does not cause transitions) that act, respectively, on the molecule's permanent and induced electric dipole, or by making use of a unipolar electromagnetic pulse that seizes the permanent and induced dipole moments simultaneously. If the combined electric fields are homogeneous, only molecular rotation is affected, whereas inhomogeneous fields affect both molecular rotation and translation. As noted in the chapter, the ability to manipulate molecular rotation and translation has wide-ranging applications – in research areas as diverse as reaction dynamics, spectroscopy, higher harmonic generation and molecular orbital imaging, the focusing and trapping of molecules, as well as quantum simulation and computing.
The ability to tune interparticle interactions is one of the main advantages of using ultracold quantum gases for quantum simulation of many-body physics. Current experiments with ultracold polar molecules employ shielding with microwave or static electric fields to prevent destructive collisional losses. The interaction potential of microwave-shielded molecules can be tuned by using microwaves of two different polarisations, while for static-field-shielded molecules the tunability of interactions is more limited and depends on the particular species. In this work, we propose a general method to tune the interactions between static-field-shielded molecules by applying a microwave field. We carry out coupled-channel scattering calculations in a field-dressed basis set to determine loss rate coefficients and scattering lengths. We find that both the s-wave scattering length and the dipole length can be widely tuned by changing the parameters of the microwave field, while maintaining strong suppression of lossy collisions.
Ultracold polar molecules present a rich platform for experimental quantum science leveraging their unique properties. Of particular relevance is the intrinsic electric dipole moment of the molecule, which results in strong coupling to microwave fields and can be used to engineer long-range, anisotropic, and tunable dipole-dipole interactions. Such interactions can generate entanglement between molecules and enable the study of novel quantum many-body phenomena in parameter regimes inaccessible in other systems. Modern experiments in optical tweezers and optical lattices have demonstrated controlled interactions between molecules in coherent quantum states, and recently bulk gases of molecules have been cooled to quantum degeneracy. Motivated by these landmark advances, we present this article to explain many of the key concepts relevant to current research in the field.