HEИндивидуална стипендия2025–2027

UltracoldTetramers · Optical formation of ground state ultracold tetratomic molecules

„Хоризонт Европа“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“

Период: 2025-04-07 → 2027-04-06
Финансиране от ЕС: 179 006 €
Участници: 1
Схема: HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF

Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.

Накратко на български

Оптичните методи за създаване на ултрастудени молекули от четири атома, като например (NaK)₂, се изследват в това задание. Те ще помогнат за изучаване на квантовата информация, прецизните измервания и химичните процеси при екстремно ниски температури.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.

Резултати накратко

Optical formation of ground state ultracold tetratomic molecules

It is now routine in many laboratories to produce ultracold diatomic molecular gases at temperatures below a microkelvin. Following the success of creating ultracold diatoms over the last two decades, there is also growing interest in forming ultracold polyatomic molecules containing three or more atoms. Owing to their rich internal structure, they offer unique opportunities for studies of cold chemistry, precision measurements, the realization of exotic quantum phases, and quantum information processing. Their increased complexity, however, presents challenges in using conventional cooling methods. Nevertheless, in a recent breakthrough experiment [X.-Y. Chen et al., Nature 626, 283 (2024)], ultracold tetratomic (NaK)2 molecules have been created by associating two fermionic NaK molecules in the presence of microwave fields. These are called field-linked molecules because an external field is required for their formation. This has stimulated immense interest in the field of ultracold research, as their method is near-universal and can be applied to a wide range of ultracold polar molecules. The observed ultracold tetratomic molecules (“tetramers”) are formed in extremely weakly bound states at a very long range, with distances between the two constituent diatoms of about 100 nm. They have limited lifetimes due to loss induced by the external field. On the other hand, the realization of long-lived samples of ultracold tetramer molecular gas, produced near the global minimum of their ground-state interaction potential energy surface, will allow us to explore the aforementioned new physics. In my Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action, my objectives were to develop new theoretical methods for transferring weakly bound FL tetramers to their absolute ground state using optical fields. Objective 1: Developing methodology for mitigating loss of ultracold molecules in ground and excited electronic states using external static electric and microwave fields. Objective 2: Developing a new methodology for stimulated adiabatic transfer of tetramer molecules from the excited state to the ground rovibrational electronic state.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз

Цел на проекта

There is currently growing interest in forming ultracold polyatomic molecules. It is anticipated that their rich internal structure will provide powerful platforms for quantum information processing, precision measurements, studies in cold-controlled chemistry, and simulation of quantum many-body systems. In a recent ground-breaking experiment, weakly bound ultracold tetratomic molecules (“tetramers”) have been realized from pairs of ultracold alkali-metal diatoms using external fields [Nature, 626, 283 (2024)]. It also opened a new question on how such weakly bound tetramers can be transferred to their absolute ground state. The main challenge is to mitigate their collisional loss from experimental traps which is expected to be very high due to an immense number of internal degrees of freedom. In this Action, I will propose novel theoretical methods to transfer weakly bound ultracold tetramers to deeply bound states in their ground electronic potential using lasers. To achieve this goal, I will combine two well-established methods for ultracold diatomic molecules: (a) Collisional shielding of molecules against inelastic and reactive loss, and (b) Stimulated Raman Adiabatic Passage (STIRAP) method for transferring weakly bound ultracold molecules to their ground vibronic state. I will implement the method (a) for molecules colliding in an excited electronic state required for STIRAP. I will develop a new method (b) which will enable the creation of deeply bound ultracold tetramers.Successful implementation of this project will create a new indirect method of creating ultracold polyatomic molecules in deeply bound states. The proposed method is near-universal and can be applied to a wide range of molecules. Stable gases of such molecules will allow the creation of a new type of Bose-Einstein Condensate made of polyatomic molecules. This Action will enable me to expand my skillsets in cutting-edge ultracold research and will help to launch my independent career.

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

UNIWERSYTET WARSZAWSKI · WarszawaКоординаторПолша