Events at Physics |
I will report on efforts to create ultracold polar molecules, coherently manipulate their internal levels, and demonstrate second-scale coherence times in a molecular ensemble. To leverage the long-range, anisotropic dipolar interactions, we engineer dipolar collisions in a bulk ensemble using the technique of microwave dressing. Upon loading polar molecules into a 2D optical lattice, we study dynamics and thermalization in a variety of spin models relevant to quantum magnetism. Toward that end, we develop a novel readout modality – quantum gas microscopy – to perform site-resolved fluorescence imaging, enabling the measurement of quantum correlations and entanglement. The techniques presented here establish ultracold molecules as a compelling platform for quantum science and technology.