Second-scale rotational coherence and dipolar interactions in a gas of ultracold polar molecules

Abstract

Ultracold polar molecules combine a rich structure of long-lived internal states with access to controllable long-range anisotropic dipole–dipole interactions. In particular, the rotational states of polar molecules confined in optical tweezers or optical lattices may be used to encode interacting qubits for quantum computation or pseudo-spins for simulating quantum magnetism. As with all quantum platforms, the engineering of robust coherent superpositions of states is vital. However, for optically trapped molecules, the coherence time between rotational states is typically limited by inhomogeneous differential light shifts. Here we demonstrate a rotationally magic optical trap for 87Rb133Cs molecules that supports a Ramsey coherence time of 0.78(4) s in the absence of dipole–dipole interactions. This is estimated to extend to >1.4 s at the 95% confidence level using a single spin-echo pulse. In our trap, dipolar interactions become the dominant mechanism by which Ramsey contrast is lost for superpositions that generate oscillating dipoles. By changing the states forming the superposition, we tune the effective dipole moment and show that the coherence time is inversely proportional to the strength of the dipolar interaction. Our work unlocks the full potential of the rotational degree of freedom in molecules for quantum computation and quantum simulation.

Description
Advisor
Degree
Type
Journal article
Keywords
Citation

Gregory, P. D., Fernley, L. M., Tao, A. L., Bromley, S. L., Stepp, J., Zhang, Z., Kotochigova, S., Hazzard, K. R. A., & Cornish, S. L. (2024). Second-scale rotational coherence and dipolar interactions in a gas of ultracold polar molecules. Nature Physics, 20(3), 415–421. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-023-02328-5

Has part(s)
Forms part of
Rights
Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the terms of the license or beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.
Citable link to this page