Quantum control of trapped polyatomic molecules for eEDM searches
Abstract
Ultracold polyatomic molecules are promising candidates for experiments in quantum science and precision searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. A key requirement is the ability to achieve full quantum control over the internal structure of the molecules. In this work, we established coherent control of individual quantum states in calcium monohydroxide (CaOH) and demonstrated a method for searching for the electron electric dipole moment (eEDM). Optically trapped, ultracold CaOH molecules were prepared in a single quantum state, polarized in an electric field, and coherently transferred into an eEDM-sensitive state where an electron spin precession measurement was performed. To extend the coherence time, we used eEDM-sensitive states with tunable, near-zero magnetic field sensitivity. Our results establish a path for eEDM searches with trapped polyatomic molecules.
Copyright and License
© 2023 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. This is an article distributed under the terms of the Science Journals Default License.
Acknowledgement
A.J. acknowledges helpful discussions with C. Zhang and P. Yu.
Funding
This work was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the National Science Foundation (NSF). L.A. acknowledges support from the Harvard Quantum Initiative. N.B.V. from the Department of Defense National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate fellowship program, and P.R. from the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program. N.R.H. and A.J. acknowledge support from NSF CAREER program (PHY-1847550), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (GBMF7947), and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (G-2019-12502).
Contributions
L.A., N.B.V., C.H., P.R., and A.J. performed the experiment and analyzed the data. N.R.H. and J.M.D. directed the study. All authors discussed the results and contributed to the manuscript.
Data Availability
All data needed to evaluate the conclusions in this paper are present in the paper or in the supplementary materials. All data presented in this paper are deposited at Zenodo (38).
Conflict of Interest
None declared.
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Additional details
- ISSN
- 1095-9203
- United States Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- National Science Foundation
- PHY-1847550
- United States Department of Defense
- National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate fellowship
- National Science Foundation
- Graduate Research Fellowship
- Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
- G-2019-12502
- Caltech groups
- Institute for Quantum Information and Matter