1 research outputs found
Microwave state transfer and adiabatic dynamics of magnetically trapped polar molecules
Cold and ultracold polar molecules with nonzero electronic angular momentum
are of great interest for studies in quantum chemistry and control,
investigations of novel quantum systems, and precision measurement. However, in
mixed electric and magnetic fields, these molecules are generically subject to
a large set of avoided crossings among their Zeeman sublevels; in magnetic
traps, these crossings lead to distorted potentials and trap loss from electric
bias fields. We have characterized these crossings in OH by
microwave-transferring trapped OH molecules from the upper |f; M = +3/2> parity
state to the lower |e; +3/2> state and observing their trap dynamics under an
applied electric bias field. Our observations are very well described by a
simple Landau-Zener model, yielding insight to the rich spectra and dynamics of
polar radicals in mixed external fields.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures plus supplementary materia