In this section
@article{Athanasakis:2025,
author = {Athanasakis, M and Peng, G and Li, S and Septien-Gonzalez, H and Debavelaere, C and White, A and Popa, S and Lim, J and Sauer, B and Tarbutt, M},
journal = {Physical Review Research},
title = {Slowing YbF molecules using radiation pressure},
year = {2025}
}
TY - JOUR
AB - We report radiation pressure slowing of YbF molecules to low velocity. In YbF, laser slowing is hindered by leaks out of the optical cycle attributed to low-lying metastable electronic states arising from inner-shell excitation. We bring this population back into the optical cycle once it hasdecayed to the electronic ground state using microwaves to couple the relevant rotational levels. We measure the scattering rate and closure of the optical cycle as repumps are added, and study the destabilzation of dark states by a magnetic field and by polarization modulation, finding thatboth are helpful for maximizing the scattering rate. Starting from a beam with a mean speed of 80 m/s, and using frequency broadened slowing light, we reduce the mean speed of the beam and produce a substantial flux in the low velocity tail of the distribution. Slowing increases the fraction of molecules below 40 m/s from 0.4(1)% to 7.0(2)%, and the fraction below 30 m/s from zero to 3.2(1)%. The establishment of a nearly-closed optical cycle and the production of molecules at low velocity are important steps towards trapping YbF molecules for future measurements of the electron’s electric dipole moment.
AU - Athanasakis,M
AU - Peng,G
AU - Li,S
AU - Septien-Gonzalez,H
AU - Debavelaere,C
AU - White,A
AU - Popa,S
AU - Lim,J
AU - Sauer,B
AU - Tarbutt,M
PY - 2025///
SN - 2643-1564
TI - Slowing YbF molecules using radiation pressure
T2 - Physical Review Research
ER -