Laser-cooled polyatomic molecules for improved electron electric dipole moment searches

• Published in: New journal of physics Vol. 22; no. 2; pp. 22003 - 22010
• Main Authors: Augenbraun, Benjamin L, Lasner, Zack D, Frenett, Alexander, Sawaoka, Hiromitsu, Miller, Calder, Steimle, Timothy C, Doyle, John M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol IOP Publishing 01.02.2020
• Subjects: Cooling; Dipole moments; Electric dipoles; electron electric dipole moment; Ions; Laser cooling; Lasers; molecular laser cooling; Numerical models; Optical trapping; Physics; Polyatomic molecules; precision measurements; Sensitivity enhancement; Space density; ultracold molecules
• ISSN: 1367-2630; 1367-2630
• DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/ab687b

Doppler and Sisyphus cooling of 174YbOH are achieved and studied. This polyatomic molecule has high sensitivity to physics beyond the Standard Model and represents a new class of species for future high-precision probes of new T-violating physics. The transverse temperature of the YbOH beam is reduced by nearly two orders of magnitude to < 600 K and the phase-space density is increased by a factor of > 6 via Sisyphus cooling. We develop a full numerical model of the laser cooling of YbOH and find excellent agreement with the data. We project that laser cooling and magneto-optical trapping of long-lived samples of YbOH molecules are within reach and these will allow a high sensitivity probe of the electric dipole moment of the electron. The approach demonstrated here is easily generalized to other isotopologues of YbOH that have enhanced sensitivity to other symmetry-violating electromagnetic moments.