Production of cold, heavy molecules at rest.
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
Emerging methods that allow molecules to be cooled, decelerated and trapped are opening fantastic new possibilities for precise measurement and manipulation of quantum matter. At Imperial College London we are working to develop new sources of cold molecules into practical tools and to apply these to important problems in physics and chemistry.In this proposal, we plan to advance the state of the art in production, transport, deceleration and trapping of cold polar molecules. A key element of this programme will be to expand the techniques of cold molecule control so that cold, heavy molecules can be produced in large numbers at rest.The specific development that we propose here is to build a new kind of cold molecule source offering a hundred times higher intensity compared with the current state of the art and delivering molecules at rest, including heavy molecules that could not previously be stopped. This source will cool the molecules by collision with helium buffer gas in a liquid helium cryostat. The cooled molecules will be guided out of the cryostat and then brought to rest by a decelerator that uses switched electric field gradients.These technical developments will lead to major progress in several areas of quantum coherence in molecules. Some examples are (i) the use of molecules to probe new elementary particle physics beyond the standard model, (ii) the study of quantum decoherence and the classical-quantum boundary (iii) ultra-high-resolution molecular spectroscopy using fountains and traps, (iv) the manipulation of polar molecules near surfaces as a quantum readout of solid-state qubits.
Organisations
Publications
Buhmann S
(2008)
Surface-induced heating of cold polar molecules
in Physical Review A
Bulleid N
(2012)
Traveling-wave deceleration of heavy polar molecules in low-field-seeking states
in Physical Review A
Hinds E
(2009)
Cold Molecules - Theory, Experiment, Applications
Hudson JJ
(2011)
Improved measurement of the shape of the electron.
in Nature
Sauer B
(2011)
Prospects for the measurement of the electron electric dipole moment using YbF
in Physics Procedia
Skoff S
(2009)
Doppler-free laser spectroscopy of buffer-gas-cooled molecular radicals
in New Journal of Physics
Skoff S
(2011)
Diffusion, thermalization, and optical pumping of YbF molecules in a cold buffer-gas cell
in Physical Review A
Tarbutt M.R.
(2009)
Preparation and manipulation of molecules for fundamental physics tests
in Cold Molecules: Theory, Experiment, Applications
Tarbutt MR
(2009)
Prospects for measuring the electric dipole moment of the electron using electrically trapped polar molecules.
in Faraday discussions
Tokunaga S
(2011)
Prospects for sympathetic cooling of molecules in electrostatic, ac and microwave traps
in The European Physical Journal D
Description | This funding has allowed us to improve the state of the art in production, transport, deceleration and trapping of cold polar molecules. The key goal of this programme was to expand the techniques of cold molecule control so that cold, heavy molecules could be produced in large numbers at rest. As outlined in the original proposal, we have built a new kind of source for cold molecular radicals offering a hundred times higher intensity compared with the previous state of the art, and delivering heavy molecules travelling slowly enough to be stopped. This source cools the molecules by collision with helium buffer gas in a liquid helium cryostat. The cooled molecules have been guided out of the cryostat and then slowed close to rest by a decelerator that uses switched electric field gradients. These technical developments open the way to major progress in several areas. Examples are (i) the use of molecules to probe new elementary particle physics beyond the standard model, (ii) the study of quantum decoherence and the classical-quantum boundary (iii) ultra-high-resolution molecular spectroscopy using fountains and traps, (iv) the manipulation of polar molecules near surfaces as a quantum readout of solid-state qubits. Some of these activities are now being pursued with funding from new EPSRC and EC grants. |
Exploitation Route | UK groups working on cold molecules will benefit from this research. These include T. Softley (Oxford), T. Freegarde (Southampton), D. Carty (Durham), J. Hutson (Durham), P. Barker (UCL). There is also a significant connection with the ultracold molecule research of S. Cornish (Durham) and I. Walmsley (Oxford). |
Sectors | Education,Other |
Description | ERC Advanced Grants |
Amount | £1,853,561 (GBP) |
Funding ID | 320789 |
Organisation | European Research Council (ERC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | Belgium |
Start | 02/2013 |
End | 01/2018 |
Description | Magneto-optical trapping and sympathetic cooling of molecules |
Amount | £1,655,229 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/M027716/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 08/2015 |
End | 01/2019 |
Description | Programme Grants |
Amount | £6,380,561 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/I012044/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 12/2010 |
End | 03/2016 |
Description | Standard Research |
Amount | £720,518 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/H031103/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 04/2010 |
End | 09/2013 |