posted on 2020-08-06, 21:58authored byMaxim
V. Ivanov, Felix H. Bangerter, Paweł Wójcik, Anna I. Krylov
Ultracold
organic chemistry
enables studies of reaction dynamics and mechanisms in the quantum
regime. Access to ultracold molecules hinges on the ability to efficiently
scatter multiple photons via quasi-closed cycling transitions. Optical
cycling in polyatomic molecules is challenging due to their complex
electronic structure. Using equation-of-motion coupled-cluster calculations,
we demonstrate that an alkaline earth metal attached to various aromatic
ligands (such as benzene, phenol, cyclopentadienyl, and pyrrolide)
offers nearly closed cycling transitions with only a few additional
repump lasers. We also show that aromatic ligands such as benzene
can accommodate multiple cycling centers in various geometrical arrangements,
opening new avenues in quantum information science, precision measurements,
and ultracold chemistry.