Ultracold Molecules

At the laser table

We produce ultracold molecules by direct laser cooling. We are using these to:

Study collisions between ultracold atoms and molecules and cool molecules to quantum degeneracy
Explore many-body quantum physics using ordered arrays of interacting molecules
Develop a molecule chip where trapped molecules can interact strongly with microwave photons
Develop a clock based on the fundamental vibrational transition of a molecule and use it to test the stability of fundamental constants
Measure the electron's electric dipole moment.

Laser Cooling

Using lasers to cool molecules to micro-Kelvin temperatures.

Laser Cooling

Sympathetic and evaporative cooling towards a Bose-Einstein Condensate

Tweezers

Capturing single molecules in ordered arrays of tweezer traps

Chip

Trapping molecules in microstructured surface traps and integration with superconducting microwave resonators

Previous Projects
Time varying constantsMeasuring transition frequencies in molecules that are sensitive to time-varying fundamental constants.
Stark decelerationDeceleration of molecular beams using switched electric field gradients.
Microwave trapTrapping atoms and molecules in a microwave cavity
Buffer Gas CoolingMolecules are produced inside a cell containing a buffer gas of cold helium. They are cooled by the helium and flow out of the cell forming an intense, low temperature, low-velocity beam.

Imperial College London