BaH molecular spectroscopy with relevance to laser cooling

Abstract

We describe a simple experimental apparatus for laser ablation of barium monohydride (BaH) molecules and the study of their rovibrational spectra that are relevant to direct laser cooling. We present a detailed analysis of the properties of ablation plumes that can improve the understanding of surface ablation and deposition technologies. A range of absorption spectroscopy and collisional thermalization regimes has been studied. We directly measured the Franck-Condon factor of the ${\mathrm{B}}^2{\Sigma }^{+}(v^{\prime }=0)\leftarrow {\mathrm{X}}^2{\Sigma }^{+}(v"=1)$ transition. Prospects for production of a high luminosity cryogenic BaH beam are outlined. This molecule is a promising candidate for laser cooling and ultracold fragmentation, both of which are precursors to novel experiments in many-body physics and precision measurement.

11 pages, 10 figures

References in corpus (7)

• Magneto-optical trapping of a diatomic molecule
• Magneto-Optical Trap for Polar Molecules
• Rotational state microwave mixing for laser cooling of complex diatomic molecules
• Magneto-optical trapping forces for atoms and molecules with complex level structures
• Improved magneto-optical trapping of a diatomic molecule
• Lifetime of the A(v'=0) state and Franck-Condon factor of the A-X(0-0) transition of CaF measured by the saturation of laser-induced fluorescence
• Ultracold hydrogen and deuterium production via Doppler-cooled Feshbach molecules

Cited by in corpus (20)

• Optical diagnostics of laser-produced plasmas
• Laser-coolable polyatomic molecules with heavy nuclei
• Buffer-gas cooling, high-resolution spectroscopy and optical cycling of barium monofluoride molecules
• Structures, Branching Ratios and Laser Cooling Scheme for 138BaF Molecule
• Optical cycling, radiative deflection and laser cooling of barium monohydride (BaH)
• Direct laser cooling of calcium monohydride molecules
• Coherent Bichromatic Force Deflection of Molecules
• High-resolution optical spectroscopy with a buffer-gas-cooled beam of BaH molecules
• Cold collision and high-resolution spectroscopy of buffer gas cooled BaF Molecule
• Spatiotemporal evolution of emission and absorption signatures in a laser-produced plasma
• Quantitative theoretical analysis of lifetimes and decay rates relevant in laser cooling BaH
• Large molasses-like cooling forces for molecules using polychromatic optical fields: A theoretical description
• Saturated absorption spectroscopy of buffer-gas-cooled Barium monofluoride molecules
• Simulation of Cryogenic Buffer Gas Beams
• Assignment of excited-state bond lengths using branching-ratio measurements: The B${}^2{\Sigma }^{+}$ state of BaH molecules
• Combining Slater-type orbitals and effective core potentials
• Towards a spectroscopically accurate set of potentials for heavy hydride laser cooling candidates: effective core potential calculations of BaH
• Hyperfine structure of the ${\mathbf{A}}^1\mathbf{\Pi }$ state of AlCl and its relevance to laser cooling and trapping
• Laser-induced thermal source for cold atoms
• Chemistry in a Cryogenic Buffer Gas Cell