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arXiv · 2210.10859

Zeeman-Sisyphus Deceleration for Heavy Molecules with Perturbed Excited-State Structure

Hiromitsu Sawaoka·Alexander Frenett·Abdullah Nasir·Tasuku Ono·Benjamin L. Augenbraun·Timothy C. Steimle·John M. Doyle
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Abstract

We demonstrate and characterize Zeeman-Sisyphus (ZS) deceleration of a beam of ytterbium monohydroxide (YbOH). Our method uses a combination of large magnetic fields ($\sim$ 2.5 T) and optical spin-flip transitions to decelerate molecules while scattering only $\sim$ 10 photons per molecule. We study the challenges associated with the presence of internal molecular perturbations among the excited electronic states and discuss the methods used to overcome these challenges, including a modified ZS decelerator using microwave and optical transitions.

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Hiromitsu Sawaoka, Alexander Frenett, Abdullah Nasir, Tasuku Ono, Benjamin L. Augenbraun, Timothy C. Steimle, John M. Doyle. 2022-10-19. Zeeman-Sisyphus Deceleration for Heavy Molecules with Perturbed Excited-State Structure. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.107.022810

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