Vibrational branching ratios and hyperfine structure of 11BH and its suitability for laser cooling
Author(s)
Hendricks, RJ
Holland, DA
Truppe, S
Sauer, BE
Tarbutt, MR
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The simple structure of the BH molecule makes it an excellent candidate for direct laser cooling. We measure the branching ratios for the decay of the A1Π (v′ = 0) state to vibrational levels of the ground state, X1Σ+, and find that they are exceedingly favorable for laser cooling. We verify that the branching ratio for the spin-forbidden transition to the intermediate a3Π state is inconsequentially small. We measure the frequency of the lowest rotational transition of the X state, and the hyperfine structure in the relevant levels of both the X and A states, and determine the nuclear electric quadrupole and magnetic dipole coupling constants. Our results show that, with a relatively simple laser cooling scheme, a Zeeman slower and magneto-optical trap can be used to cool, slow and trap BH molecules.
Date Issued
2014-08-19
Date Acceptance
2014-07-28
Citation
Frontiers in Physics, 2014, 2 (51)
ISSN
2296-424X
Publisher
Frontiers Media
Journal / Book Title
Frontiers in Physics
Volume
2
Issue
51
Copyright Statement
© 2014 Hendricks, Holland, Truppe, Sauer and Tarbutt. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Publication Status
Published