High Compression Blue-Detuned Magneto-Optical Trap of Polyatomic Molecules

• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2404.03636
• Publication Date: 2024-01-01
• Authors: Hallas, Christian; Li, Grace K.; Vilas, Nathaniel B.; Robichaud, Paige; Anderegg, Loïc; Doyle, John M.
• Keywords: Atomic Physics (physics.atom-ph); FOS: Physical sciences; Physics - Atomic Physics

We demonstrate a blue-detuned magneto-optical trap (MOT) of a polyatomic molecule, calcium monohydroxide (CaOH). We identify a novel MOT frequency configuration that produces high spatial compression of the molecular cloud. This high compression MOT achieves a cloud radius of $59(5)~μ\text{m}$ and a peak density of $8(2) \times 10^8~\text{cm}^{-3}$, the highest reported density for a molecular MOT to date. We compare our experimental studies of blue-detuned MOTs for CaOH and compare with Monte-Carlo simulations, finding good agreement.