Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Experiments with ultracold atoms show a remarkable level of control over the quantum world. In addition to being a promising platform for quantum computing and serving as the heart of some of the first commercial quantum sensors, quantum simulation experiments with ultracold atoms are answering major questions in science and technology. This control calls for an array of specialized tools. The titanium sapphire laser (Ti:Sapph) has emerged as a key tool in next-generation ultracold atoms experiments. As a post doc and research scientist at MIT, working under Wolfgang Ketterle (Nobel Prize, 2001), I used four separate Ti:sapph lasers for controlling ultracold atoms and producing ultracold molecules. I will apply this expertise in my lab to propel cutting-edge research and to train Canadian ultracold atoms researchers in these techniques. The Ti:sapph laser will be used immediately for producing flexible trapping potentials to extend the capabilities of quantum simulation experiments. My lab produces ultracold mixtures of two elements: Li and Cs. The extreme tunability and high power of the Ti:sapph laser will allow us to produce potential energy landscapes that draw Li and Cs to the same areas, repel Cs while attracting Li, or tightly confine Li in a trap that does not affect Cs. This flexibility will be key to simulating technologically important quantum materials. Ultracold molecules is a rapidly growing new direction with the potential to be as revolutionary as ultracold atoms. Molecules add long-ranged dipolar interactions to the quantum simulation toolkit. This opens possibilities to simulate a host of new models and materials not possible with ultracold atoms. The same long-ranged interactions form the foundation for proposals to use ultracold molecules as high quality qubits for quantum computing, currently being explored in my group. Ultracold molecules are also opening the new field of ultracold chemistry. Though only demonstrated by a few groups in the world at the moment, the ability to control chemical reactions at the level of individual quantum states may revolutionize our understanding of chemical reaction dynamics over the next decade. Producing ultracold molecules is still a challenging task, achieved in only about twenty labs around the world, including a lab I ran as a research scientist. A Ti:sapph laser is a powerful enabling technology in this realm for two reasons. First, its extremely broad tunability and narrow linewidth makes it a uniquely capable tool for molecular spectroscopy. This spectroscopy is necessary to find a path to producing ground-state ultracold molecules. Second, its high power plus narrow linewidth is key for the STIRAP process used to actually produce ultracold ground-state molecules. I've used Ti:sapph lasers for both of these tasks as a post doc and research scientist. As such, the requested Ti:sapph laser will be a central element of future ultracold molecule production and experiments in my lab.