Enhanced Loading of a Molecular Magneto-Optical Trap

Fuente: arXiv

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Youssef, Ebram, Wilson, Kaiya, Cao, Jiahe, Brislawn, Reilly, Lakkireddy, Avani, Liu, Kun, Teo, Aaron, Turner, Phoebe, Anderegg, Loïc
Format:	Preprint
Published:	2026
Subjects:	Atomic Physics
Online Access:	Acceder al recurso
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author	Youssef, Ebram Wilson, Kaiya Cao, Jiahe Brislawn, Reilly Lakkireddy, Avani Liu, Kun Teo, Aaron Turner, Phoebe Anderegg, Loïc
author_facet	Youssef, Ebram Wilson, Kaiya Cao, Jiahe Brislawn, Reilly Lakkireddy, Avani Liu, Kun Teo, Aaron Turner, Phoebe Anderegg, Loïc
contents	Molecular magneto-optical traps (MOTs) typically capture orders of magnitude fewer particles than their atomic counterparts due in part to their significantly lower capture velocities. Here, we employ a Stochastic Schrödinger Equation Monte Carlo approach to model a CaF DC MOT to understand the factors limiting capture velocity. We provide physical intuition into the mechanisms that affect capture velocity and identify important parameters and general strategies to improve it. In addition, we point out a loss mechanism intrinsic to molecular MOTs and determine parameter regimes that should be avoided experimentally. We benchmark our simulations against a CaF DC MOT and experimentally implement the improvements predicted by our model. In doing so, we demonstrate a molecular MOT with 1.5 million trapped molecules. This represents an eight-fold improvement and is an important step toward achieving quantum degeneracy with laser cooled molecules.
format	Preprint
id	arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_30296
institution	arXiv
publishDate	2026
record_format	arxiv
spellingShingle	Enhanced Loading of a Molecular Magneto-Optical Trap Youssef, Ebram Wilson, Kaiya Cao, Jiahe Brislawn, Reilly Lakkireddy, Avani Liu, Kun Teo, Aaron Turner, Phoebe Anderegg, Loïc Atomic Physics Molecular magneto-optical traps (MOTs) typically capture orders of magnitude fewer particles than their atomic counterparts due in part to their significantly lower capture velocities. Here, we employ a Stochastic Schrödinger Equation Monte Carlo approach to model a CaF DC MOT to understand the factors limiting capture velocity. We provide physical intuition into the mechanisms that affect capture velocity and identify important parameters and general strategies to improve it. In addition, we point out a loss mechanism intrinsic to molecular MOTs and determine parameter regimes that should be avoided experimentally. We benchmark our simulations against a CaF DC MOT and experimentally implement the improvements predicted by our model. In doing so, we demonstrate a molecular MOT with 1.5 million trapped molecules. This represents an eight-fold improvement and is an important step toward achieving quantum degeneracy with laser cooled molecules.
title	Enhanced Loading of a Molecular Magneto-Optical Trap
topic	Atomic Physics
url	https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.30296