Events

Tue December 11, 2018 4:00 pm

Kang-Kuen Ni: Building single molecules

Location:MIT 4-270
Ten Minute Talk:"Laser-cooled polyatomic molecules for electron EDM measurements" by Benjamin L. Augenbraun

Control and imaging of individually trapped ions and neutral atoms have been crucial to developing them as powerful quantum building blocks for qubits, logic gates, and clocks. Bringing these capabilities to molecules promises additional quantum applications, enabled by the rich internal degrees of freedom and inter-molecular coupling. I  will  present current experimental work at the CUA to achieve single-particle control of  molecules. I will focus on the approach begins by trapping individual cesium and sodium atoms and transporting them into a single optical tweezer. Two atoms in a tweezer allow clean studies of collisions and reactions in the ultracold regime. To build a molecule out of two atoms as a proof-of-principle, we utilize photoassociation.  The individual atoms have been brought under full quantum control. Currently, we are learning to create individual molecules coherently for quantum simulation, quantum information processing, and ultracold chemistry with precise initial reactant preparation.

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