Rovibrational cooling of molecules by optical pumping.
Phys Rev Lett
; 109(18): 183001, 2012 Nov 02.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-23215275
ABSTRACT
We demonstrate rotational and vibrational cooling of cesium dimers by optical pumping techniques. We use two laser sources exciting all the populated rovibrational states, except a target state that thus behaves like a dark state where molecules pile up thanks to absorption-spontaneous emission cycles. We are able to accumulate photoassociated cold Cs(2) molecules in their absolute ground state (v = 0, J = 0) with up to 40% efficiency. Given its simplicity, the method could be extended to other molecules and molecular beams. It also opens up general perspectives in laser cooling the external degrees of freedom of molecules.
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Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Language:
En
Journal:
Phys Rev Lett
Year:
2012
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country: