Quantum control of a single ${\mathrm{H}}_2^{+}$ molecular ion

Abstract

Science is founded on the benchmarking of theoretical models against experimental measurements, with the challenge that for all but the simplest systems, the calculations required for high precision become extremely challenging. ${\mathrm{H}}_2^{+}$ is the simplest stable molecule, and its structure is calculable to high precision. However, studying ${\mathrm{H}}_2^{+}$ experimentally presents significant challenges: Standard control methods such as laser cooling are not applicable due to the long lifetimes of its rotational and vibrational states. Here we solve this issue by combining buffer gas cooling to quench the ${\mathrm{H}}_2^{+}$ rovibrational excitation with quantum logic operations between ${\mathrm{H}}_2^{+}$ and a co-trapped 'helper' ion to control the molecule's hyperfine structure. This enables us to perform pure quantum state preparation, coherent control, and non-destructive readout, which we use to demonstrate high-resolution microwave spectroscopy in the hyperfine structure of ${\mathrm{H}}_2^{+}$ with a precision of 2 Hz. Our results pave the way for high precision spectroscopy of ${\mathrm{H}}_2^{+}$ in both the microwave and optical domains. Due to the wide applicability of buffer gas cooling, our method provides a general tool for molecular ion species that are hard to control with quantum logic tools alone.

References in corpus (27)

• An ${}^{27}$Al${}^{+}$ quantum-logic clock with systematic uncertainty below $10^{-18}$
• Single-Ion Atomic Clock with $3\times 10^{-18}$ Systematic Uncertainty
• Preparation and coherent manipulation of pure quantum states of a single molecular ion
• Non-destructive state detection for quantum logic spectroscopy of molecular ions
• Fundamental transitions and ionization energies of the hydrogen molecular ions at the few ppt level
• Quantum entanglement between an atom and a molecule
• Sympathetic Cooling of Mixed Species Two-Ion Crystals for Precision Spectroscopy
• Quantum non-demolition state detection and spectroscopy of single trapped molecules
• Precision frequency-comb terahertz spectroscopy on pure quantum states of a single molecular ion
• CPT tests with the antihydrogen molecular ion
• Vibrational spectroscopy of H2+: hyperfine structure of two-photon transitions
• The electric quadrupole moment of molecular hydrogen ions and their potential for a molecular ion clock
• Systematic uncertainty due to background-gas collisions in trapped-ion optical clocks
• Two mode coupling in a single ion oscillator via parametric resonance
• Self-consistent extraction of spectroscopic bounds on light new physics
• Algorithmic Ground-state Cooling of Weakly-Coupled Oscillators using Quantum Logic
• Vibrational spectroscopy of H2+: precise evaluation of the Zeeman effect
• Higher-order corrections to spin-spin scalar interactions in HD${}^{+}$ and H${}_2^{+}$
• Trapping and Ground-State Cooling of a Single H${}_2^{+}$
• Rotational spectroscopy of a single molecular ion at sub part-per-trillion resolution
• Higher-order corrections to spin-orbit and spin-spin tensor interactions in hydrogen molecular ions: theory and application to H${}_2^{+}$
• Quantum state tracking and control of a single molecular ion in a thermal environment
• Prospects for the determination of fundamental constants with beyond-state-of-the-art uncertainty using molecular hydrogen ion spectroscopy
• Indirect Cooling of Weakly Coupled Trapped-Ion Mechanical Oscillators
• Quadrupole transitions in the bound rotational-vibrational spectrum of the deuterium molecular ion
• Hyperfine structure and electric quadrupole transitions in the deuterium molecular ion
• Forbidden "ortho"--"para" electric dipole transitions in H${}_2^{+}$ ion

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Charge Exchange Dynamics in Cold Collisions of ${}^{40}$CaH${}^{+}$ and ${}^{39}$K
• State-Selective Ionization and Trapping of Single H${}_2^{+}$ Ions with (2+1) Multiphoton Ionization
• Molecular Quantum Control Algorithm Design by Reinforcement Learning
• Rotational excitation in sympathetic cooling of diatomic molecular ions by laser-cooled atomic ions