Ultracold interactions between ions and polar molecules

We propose a platform for observing and controlling the interactions between atomic ions and a quantum gas of polar molecules in the ultracold regime. This approach is based on the combination of several recently developed methods in two so-far complementary research domains: ion-atom collisions and...

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Main Authors: Leon Karpa, Olivier Dulieu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Physical Society 2025-06-01
Series:Physical Review Research
Online Access:http://doi.org/10.1103/7zz8-qk2c
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author Leon Karpa
Olivier Dulieu
author_facet Leon Karpa
Olivier Dulieu
author_sort Leon Karpa
collection DOAJ
description We propose a platform for observing and controlling the interactions between atomic ions and a quantum gas of polar molecules in the ultracold regime. This approach is based on the combination of several recently developed methods in two so-far complementary research domains: ion-atom collisions and studies of ultracold polar molecules. In contrast to collisions between ions and ground-state atoms, which are dominated by losses due to three-body recombination (TBR) already at densities far below those typical for quantum degenerate ensembles, our proposal makes use of polar molecules, their rich level structure, and sensitivity to electric fields to design effective interaction potentials where ion-neutral TBR losses and molecule-molecule losses due to sticky collisions could be strongly suppressed. This may open a broad range of applications including precise control of collisional properties in molecular ensembles using ions, quantum simulations, and cold quantum chemistry between polyatomic molecules.
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spelling doaj-art-94f286d9175d4488aaa598dce5f09abd2025-08-20T03:27:39ZengAmerican Physical SocietyPhysical Review Research2643-15642025-06-017202100210.1103/7zz8-qk2cUltracold interactions between ions and polar moleculesLeon KarpaOlivier DulieuWe propose a platform for observing and controlling the interactions between atomic ions and a quantum gas of polar molecules in the ultracold regime. This approach is based on the combination of several recently developed methods in two so-far complementary research domains: ion-atom collisions and studies of ultracold polar molecules. In contrast to collisions between ions and ground-state atoms, which are dominated by losses due to three-body recombination (TBR) already at densities far below those typical for quantum degenerate ensembles, our proposal makes use of polar molecules, their rich level structure, and sensitivity to electric fields to design effective interaction potentials where ion-neutral TBR losses and molecule-molecule losses due to sticky collisions could be strongly suppressed. This may open a broad range of applications including precise control of collisional properties in molecular ensembles using ions, quantum simulations, and cold quantum chemistry between polyatomic molecules.http://doi.org/10.1103/7zz8-qk2c
spellingShingle Leon Karpa
Olivier Dulieu
Ultracold interactions between ions and polar molecules
Physical Review Research
title Ultracold interactions between ions and polar molecules
title_full Ultracold interactions between ions and polar molecules
title_fullStr Ultracold interactions between ions and polar molecules
title_full_unstemmed Ultracold interactions between ions and polar molecules
title_short Ultracold interactions between ions and polar molecules
title_sort ultracold interactions between ions and polar molecules
url http://doi.org/10.1103/7zz8-qk2c
work_keys_str_mv AT leonkarpa ultracoldinteractionsbetweenionsandpolarmolecules
AT olivierdulieu ultracoldinteractionsbetweenionsandpolarmolecules