Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:physics/0208080 · Physical Review Letters

Linking Ultracold Polar Molecules

А. V. Avdeenkov, John L. Bohn

Published Jan 31, 2003• 120 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We predict that pairs of polar molecules can be weakly bound together in an ultracold environment, provided that a dc electric field is present. The field that links the molecules together also strongly influences the basic properties of the resulting dimer, such as its binding energy and predissociation lifetime. Because of their long-range character, these dimers will be useful in disentangling cold collision dynamics of polar molecules. As an example, we estimate the microwave photoassociation yield for OH-OH cold collisions.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.90.043006

Related papers

Photoassociation of ultracold long-range polyatomic molecules

Marko Gacesa, Jason N. Byrd, Jonathan Smucker +2 more

The authors align a pair of ultracold polar molecules using an external electric field and use a laser to excite one of them and photo-associate the pair, binding them into an ultracold polyatomic molecule.

arXiv:2007.00261•Physical Review Research•Jun 1, 2021•10 citations

Confinement-induced field-linked states of ultracold polar molecules

Reuben R. W. Wang, John L. Bohn

We predict the existence of stable bound states between pairs of ultracold diatomic molecules with the aid of a static electric field and 1D harmonic confinement. We focus on collisions of NaK-NaK identical fermions, for which we find that currently achievable experimental parameters allow the observation of these confinement-induced field-linked bound states as scattering resonances. The bound state is highly stable with lifetimes estimated to be tens of seconds long. With the diatomic molecules bound at distances a fraction of the dipolar length scale, these complexes allow for explorations of polyatomic chemistry and Fermi gas superfluid pairing.

arXiv:2409.08431•Sep 12, 2024•0 citations

Progress toward ultracold chemistry: ultracold atomic and photonic collisions

Jesús Pérez‐Ríos, Maxence Lepers, Romain Véxiau +2 more

The dynamics of ultracold quantum gases composed of atoms or molecules with extremely low translational energy E t /k B << 1 millikelvin is dominated by the long-range mutual interactions between particles. Such studies require a detailed modelling of the atom-molecule or molecule-molecule long-range interactions inside the quantum gas with or without the presence of external fields. This paper focuses on two particular aspects relevant to ultracold chemistry: (i) The calculation of rates for photoassociation of a cold atom and a cold molecule to create ultracold excited trimers, based on the knowledge of the long-range interaction between the two species, showing that such rates are encouraging under the density and temperature conditions of a nearly degenerate quantum gas; (ii) The determination of the long-range interactions between two identical polar bialkali molecules in their rovibronic ground level in the presence of an electric field, showing the possibility for the formation of ultracold polar tetramers by stimulated emission.

Journal of Physics Conference Series•Apr 10, 2014•6 citations

Collisional dynamics of ultracold OH molecules in an electrostatic field

А. V. Avdeenkov, John L. Bohn

Ultracold collisions of polar OH molecules are considered in the presence of an electrostatic field. The field exerts a strong influence on both elastic and state-changing inelastic collision rate constants, leading to clear experimental signatures that should help disentangle the theory of cold molecule collisions. Based on the collision rates, we discuss the prospects for evaporative cooling of electrostatically trapped OH. We also find that the scattering properties at ultralow temperatures prove to be remarkably independent of the details of the short-range interaction, owing to avoided crossings in the long-range adiabatic potential curves. The behavior of the scattering rate constants is qualitatively understood in terms of a novel set of long-range states of the $[\mathrm{OH}{]}_{2}$ dimer.

arXiv:physics/0203089•Physical Review A•Nov 22, 2002•103 citations

Ultracold field-linked tetratomic molecules

Xing-Yan Chen, Shrestha Biswas, Sebastian Eppelt +7 more

Abstract Ultracold polyatomic molecules offer opportunities 1 in cold chemistry 2,3 , precision measurements 4 and quantum information processing 5,6 , because of their rich internal structure. However, their increased complexity compared with diatomic molecules presents a challenge in using conventional cooling techniques. Here we demonstrate an approach to create weakly bound ultracold polyatomic molecules by electroassociation 7 (F.D. et al., manuscript in preparation) in a degenerate Fermi gas of microwave-dressed polar molecules through a field-linked resonance 8–11 . Starting from ground-state NaK molecules, we create around 1.1 × 10 3 weakly bound tetratomic (NaK) 2 molecules, with a phase space density of 0.040(3) at a temperature of 134(3) nK, more than 3,000 times colder than previously realized tetratomic molecules 12 . We observe a maximum tetramer lifetime of 8(2) ms in free space without a notable change in the presence of an optical dipole trap, indicating that these tetramers are collisionally stable. Moreover, we directly image the dissociated tetramers through microwave-field modulation to probe the anisotropy of their wavefunction in momentum space. Our result demonstrates a universal tool for assembling weakly bound ultracold polyatomic molecules from smaller polar molecules, which is a crucial step towards Bose–Einstein condensation of polyatomic molecules and towards a new crossover from a dipolar Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer superfluid 13–15 to a Bose–Einstein condensation of tetramers. Moreover, the long-lived field-linked state provides an ideal starting point for deterministic optical transfer to deeply bound tetramer states 16–18 .

arXiv:2306.00962•Nature•Jan 31, 2024•38 citations

Electroassociation of Ultracold Dipolar Molecules into Tetramer Field-Linked States

Goulven Quéméner, John L. Bohn, James F. E. Croft

The presence of electric or microwave fields can modify the long-range forces between ultracold dipolar molecules in such a way as to engineer weakly bound states of molecule pairs. These so-called field-linked states [A. V. Avdeenkov and J. L. Bohn, Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 043006 (2003).PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.90.043006; L. Lassablière and G. Quéméner, Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 163402 (2018).PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.121.163402], in which the separation between the two bound molecules can be orders of magnitude larger than the molecules themselves, have been observed as resonances in scattering experiments [X.-Y. Chen et al., Nature (London) 614, 59 (2023).NATUAS0028-083610.1038/s41586-022-05651-8]. Here, we propose to use them as tools for the assembly of weakly bound tetramer molecules, by means of ramping an electric field, the electric-field analog of magnetoassociation in atoms. This ability would present new possibilities for constructing ultracold polyatomic molecules.

arXiv:2304.09525•Physical Review Letters•Jul 26, 2023•15 citations
We predict that pairs of polar molecules can be weakly bound together in an ultracold environment, provided that a dc electric field is present. The field that links the molecules together also strongly influences the basic properties of the resulting dimer, such as its binding energy and predissociation lifetime. Because of their long-range character, these dimers will be useful in disentangling cold collision dynamics of polar molecules. As an example, we estimate the microwave photoassociation yield for OH-OH cold collisions.
We predict the existence of stable bound states between pairs of ultracold diatomic molecules with the aid of a static electric field and 1D harmonic confinement. We focus on collisions of NaK-NaK identical fermions, for which we find that currently achievable experimental parameters allow the observation of these confinement-induced field-linked bound states as scattering resonances. The bound state is highly stable with lifetimes estimated to be tens of seconds long. With the diatomic molecules bound at distances a fraction of the dipolar length scale, these complexes allow for explorations of polyatomic chemistry and Fermi gas superfluid pairing.
The dynamics of ultracold quantum gases composed of atoms or molecules with extremely low translational energy E t /k B << 1 millikelvin is dominated by the long-range mutual interactions between particles. Such studies require a detailed modelling of the atom-molecule or molecule-molecule long-range interactions inside the quantum gas with or without the presence of external fields. This paper focuses on two particular aspects relevant to ultracold chemistry: (i) The calculation of rates for photoassociation of a cold atom and a cold molecule to create ultracold excited trimers, based on the knowledge of the long-range interaction between the two species, showing that such rates are encouraging under the density and temperature conditions of a nearly degenerate quantum gas; (ii) The determination of the long-range interactions between two identical polar bialkali molecules in their rovibronic ground level in the presence of an electric field, showing the possibility for the formation of ultracold polar tetramers by stimulated emission.
Ultracold collisions of polar OH molecules are considered in the presence of an electrostatic field. The field exerts a strong influence on both elastic and state-changing inelastic collision rate constants, leading to clear experimental signatures that should help disentangle the theory of cold molecule collisions. Based on the collision rates, we discuss the prospects for evaporative cooling of electrostatically trapped OH. We also find that the scattering properties at ultralow temperatures prove to be remarkably independent of the details of the short-range interaction, owing to avoided crossings in the long-range adiabatic potential curves. The behavior of the scattering rate constants is qualitatively understood in terms of a novel set of long-range states of the [OH]2[\mathrm{OH}{]}_{2}[OH]2​ dimer.
Abstract Ultracold polyatomic molecules offer opportunities 1 in cold chemistry 2,3 , precision measurements 4 and quantum information processing 5,6 , because of their rich internal structure. However, their increased complexity compared with diatomic molecules presents a challenge in using conventional cooling techniques. Here we demonstrate an approach to create weakly bound ultracold polyatomic molecules by electroassociation 7 (F.D. et al., manuscript in preparation) in a degenerate Fermi gas of microwave-dressed polar molecules through a field-linked resonance 8–11 . Starting from ground-state NaK molecules, we create around 1.1 × 10 3 weakly bound tetratomic (NaK) 2 molecules, with a phase space density of 0.040(3) at a temperature of 134(3) nK, more than 3,000 times colder than previously realized tetratomic molecules 12 . We observe a maximum tetramer lifetime of 8(2) ms in free space without a notable change in the presence of an optical dipole trap, indicating that these tetramers are collisionally stable. Moreover, we directly image the dissociated tetramers through microwave-field modulation to probe the anisotropy of their wavefunction in momentum space. Our result demonstrates a universal tool for assembling weakly bound ultracold polyatomic molecules from smaller polar molecules, which is a crucial step towards Bose–Einstein condensation of polyatomic molecules and towards a new crossover from a dipolar Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer superfluid 13–15 to a Bose–Einstein condensation of tetramers. Moreover, the long-lived field-linked state provides an ideal starting point for deterministic optical transfer to deeply bound tetramer states 16–18 .
The presence of electric or microwave fields can modify the long-range forces between ultracold dipolar molecules in such a way as to engineer weakly bound states of molecule pairs. These so-called field-linked states [A. V. Avdeenkov and J. L. Bohn, Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 043006 (2003).PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.90.043006; L. Lassablière and G. Quéméner, Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 163402 (2018).PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.121.163402], in which the separation between the two bound molecules can be orders of magnitude larger than the molecules themselves, have been observed as resonances in scattering experiments [X.-Y. Chen et al., Nature (London) 614, 59 (2023).NATUAS0028-083610.1038/s41586-022-05651-8]. Here, we propose to use them as tools for the assembly of weakly bound tetramer molecules, by means of ramping an electric field, the electric-field analog of magnetoassociation in atoms. This ability would present new possibilities for constructing ultracold polyatomic molecules.