Antonov IO, Stollenwerk PR, Venkataramanababu S, de Lima Batista AP, de Oliveira-Filho AGS, Odom BC. Precisely spun super rotors.
Nat Commun 2021;
12:2201. [PMID:
33850116 PMCID:
PMC8044131 DOI:
10.1038/s41467-021-22342-6]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2020] [Accepted: 03/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Improved optical control of molecular quantum states promises new applications including chemistry in the quantum regime, precision tests of fundamental physics, and quantum information processing. While much work has sought to prepare ground state molecules, excited states are also of interest. Here, we demonstrate a broadband optical approach to pump trapped SiO+ molecules into pure super rotor ensembles maintained for many minutes. Super rotor ensembles pumped up to rotational state N = 67, corresponding to the peak of a 9400 K distribution, had a narrow N spread comparable to that of a few-kelvin sample, and were used for spectroscopy of the previously unobserved C2Π state. Significant centrifugal distortion of super rotors pumped up to N = 230 allowed probing electronic structure of SiO+ stretched far from its equilibrium bond length.
Optical pulses can be useful to create and control molecules in higher quantum states. Here the authors use optical pumping to create rotationally excited states of SiO+ molecular ion into super rotor ensemble.
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