title: Proposal for Laser Cooling of Complex Polyatomic Molecules.
abstract: An experimentally feasible strategy for direct laser cooling of polyatomic molecules with six or more atoms is presented. Our approach relies on the attachment of a metal atom to a complex molecule, where it acts as an active photon cycling site. We describe a laser cooling scheme for alkaline earth monoalkoxide free radicals taking advantage of the phase space compression of a cryogenic buffer-gas beam. Possible applications are presented including laser cooling of chiral molecules and slowing of molecular beams using coherent photon processes.
authors.affiliation: Harvard-MIT Center for Ultracold Atoms, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.|Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5119-6478
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kozyryev
authors.affiliation: Harvard-MIT Center for Ultracold Atoms, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.|Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Baum
authors.affiliation: Harvard-MIT Center for Ultracold Atoms, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.|Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Kyle
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsuda
authors.affiliation: Harvard-MIT Center for Ultracold Atoms, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.|Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Doyle
keywords: complex molecules; laser cooling; micro-kelvin temperatures; photon cycling; polyatomic molecules