Atomic Physics Seminar: Michael Tarbutt, Imperial College London, “Molecules cooled below the Doppler limit”

Ultracold molecules are desirable for many applications, including tests of fundamental physics, studies of strongly-interacting many-body quantum systems, quantum simulation and information processing, and ultracold chemistry. I will give an update on our efforts to produce ultracold molecules. We slow a beam of CaF to low velocity using frequency-chirped laser light and capture about 20,000 of these molecules in a magneto-optical trap. We transfer the molecules into a blue-detuned optical molasses where they cool to temperatures below the Doppler limit.