Optical trapping of a polyatomic molecule

Polyatomic molecules have unique features not found in atoms or diatomic molecules that make them ideally suited for novel applications in quantum simulation, quantum computation, and precision measurements. However, the rotational and vibrational degrees of freedom that give rise to these features also present a challenge to realizing the high degree of quantum state control that is achieved with optically trapped atoms and, more recently, diatomic molecules. We will present progress towards achieving such control with a polyatomic molecule, calcium monohydroxide (CaOH). Starting with magneto-optically trapped CaOH molecules, we demonstrate deep laser cooling to temperatures of ~20 μK and discuss recent progress on loading the cooled CaOH molecules into an optical dipole trap. The long lifetimes afforded by the optical dipole trap makes it an ideal platform for investigating the suitability of CaOH for quantum simulation and quantum computation applications.