Suppression of Inelastic Collisions Between Polar Molecules With a Repulsive Shield

A. V. Gorshkov, P. Rabl, G. Pupillo, A. Micheli, P. Zoller, M. D. Lukin, and H. P. Büchler

Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 073201 – Published 14 August 2008

Abstract

We propose and analyze a technique that allows one to suppress inelastic collisions and simultaneously enhance elastic interactions between cold polar molecules. The main idea is to cancel the leading dipole-dipole interaction with a suitable combination of static electric and microwave fields in such a way that the remaining van der Waals-type potential forms a three-dimensional repulsive shield. We analyze the elastic and inelastic scattering cross sections relevant for evaporative cooling of polar molecules and discuss the prospect for the creation of stable crystalline structures.

Received 5 May 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.073201

Authors & Affiliations

A. V. Gorshkov¹, P. Rabl^1,2, G. Pupillo^3,4, A. Micheli^3,4, P. Zoller^3,4, M. D. Lukin^1,2, and H. P. Büchler⁵

¹Physics Department, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
²Institute for Theoretical Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
³Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
⁴Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
⁵Theoretische Physik III, University of Stuttgart, 70155 Stuttgart, Germany

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Vol. 101, Iss. 7 — 15 August 2008

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