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Updated: Jun 14, 2026

Direct Imaging of Laser-driven Ultrafast Molecular Rotation

Direct Imaging of Laser-driven Ultrafast Molecular Rotation

Published on: February 4, 2017

Radiative force from optical cycling on a diatomic molecule.

E S Shuman¹, J F Barry, D R Glenn

¹Department of Physics, Yale University, P.O. Box 208120, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.

Physical Review Letters

|April 7, 2010

Summary

We developed optical cycling for strontium monofluoride (SrF) molecules using a specific electronic transition. This method enables over 100,000 photon scatters, paving the way for direct laser cooling of SrF.

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Area of Science:

Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
Quantum Chemistry
Laser Spectroscopy

Background:

Optical cycling is crucial for laser cooling of atoms and molecules.
Polar molecules like strontium monofluoride (SrF) present unique challenges for optical cycling due to their complex energy level structures.

Purpose of the Study:

To demonstrate a practical optical cycling scheme for the strontium monofluoride (SrF) molecule.
To enable efficient photon scattering for potential laser cooling applications.

Main Methods:

Utilizing the X2Sigma+ --> A2Pi(1/2) electronic transition in SrF.
Leveraging highly diagonal Franck-Condon factors to minimize vibrational branching.
Implementing a quasicycling N = 1 --> N' = 0 transition with magnetic field remixing to suppress rotational branching.

Main Results:

Observed cycling fluorescence in an SrF molecular beam.
Demonstrated deflection of the SrF molecular beam via radiative force, confirming successful optical cycling.
Achieved suppression of both vibrational and rotational branching.

Conclusions:

The developed scheme effectively enables optical cycling in SrF.
The method shows potential for over 10^5 photon scatters, a key requirement for direct laser cooling.
Further improvements could lead to the realization of direct laser cooling for SrF.