The seminar will take place from 11-12 p.m. PDT in Physics 375 North. Our speaker is Loïc Anderegg (Harvard). Details are below.

Laser-Cooled Molecules for Quantum Science
Ultracold molecules have a wide range of potential applications spanning fundamental physics to quantum simulation and quantum information processing. These applications have driven significant advances in controlling molecules at the single-quantum-state level. Progress in direct laser-cooling of molecules has led to the first molecular magneto-optical traps and the optical trapping of ultracold molecules. Optical tweezer arrays have permitted both high-fidelity readout as well as quantum control of individual molecules, a key milestone for quantum information applications. In this talk, I will present our approach to the laser cooling of molecules into the ultracold regime and the creation of an optical tweezer array of CaF molecules. With this platform we study ultracold collisions. By applying microwave radiation, we are able to directly engineer and tune the interaction potentials between molecules, creating a repulsive shield, which suppresses inelastic loss. This generalizable approach provides a route to creating dense, long-lived samples of ultracold molecules and further evaporative cooling to quantum degeneracy. We’ll also look at data on rotational coherence times in optical tweezer traps - which are so critical to the performance of quantum information processing with polar molecule arrays - and discuss the progress we are making toward this goal. Finally, we’ll take a look at laser-cooling and optical trapping of polyatomic molecules. Their distinct combination of rotational and vibrational degrees of freedom not found in their diatomic counterparts promise a range of transformational possibilities uniquely suited to future applications in quantum computation and simulation.