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Updated: Feb 1, 2026

Spectral and Angle-Resolved Magneto-Optical Characterization of Photonic Nanostructures
Published on: November 21, 2019
3D Magneto-Optical Trap of Yttrium Monoxide
Alejandra L Collopy1, Shiqian Ding1, Yewei Wu1
1JILA, National Institute of Standards and Technology and Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA.
Abstract:
We report three-dimensional trapping of an oxide molecule (YO), using a radio-frequency magneto-optical trap (MOT). The total number of molecules trapped is ∼1.5×10^{4}, with a temperature of 4.1(5) mK. This diversifies the frontier of molecules that are laser coolable and paves the way for the second-stage narrow-line cooling in this molecule to the microkelvin regime. Futhermore, the new challenges of creating a 3D MOT of YO resolved here indicate that MOTs of more complex nonlinear molecules should be feasible as well.
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