A proposed laser-cooled 137BaF platform could measure nuclear-spin-dependent parity violation with sub-0.1% statistical precision, roughly 100x beyond molecular beams.
Capture velocities for direct loading of heavy molecules into conveyor-belt magneto-optical traps
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abstract
Conveyor-belt magneto-optical traps (CB-MOTs) use blue-detuned polarization-gradient forces to provide simultaneous cooling, confinement, and loading on type-II molecular transitions. Recent experiments with \baf{138} showed that this mechanism can directly load a slowed molecular beam with an efficiency exceeding that of a conventional red-detuned MOT. Here we use established optical-Bloch-equation force calculations and classical trajectory propagation to ask whether this direct-loading strategy should extend beyond the specific molecule used in the first demonstration. For \baf{138}, the calculation reproduces the experimentally observed trend that the CB-MOT capture velocity increases with laser intensity. We then apply the same framework to two closely related but experimentally distinct cases: \baf{137}, whose dense hyperfine structure complicates a conventional dual-frequency MOT, and \bah{138}, whose narrower linewidth and longer wavelength reduce the available radiative force. In both cases, the CB-MOT retains a broad region of nonzero capture velocity. These results identify the molecular conditions under which direct CB-MOT loading should remain effective and show that the dipole-force-dominated conveyor-belt mechanism provides a practical loading route for heavy laser-coolable molecules whose MOT performance is otherwise limited by photon recoil, scattering rate, or hyperfine complexity.
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physics.atom-ph 1years
2026 1verdicts
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A platform for nuclear symmetry-violation searches with laser-coolable molecules carrying spinful nuclei
A proposed laser-cooled 137BaF platform could measure nuclear-spin-dependent parity violation with sub-0.1% statistical precision, roughly 100x beyond molecular beams.