Laser cooling alkaline-earth-like diatomic molecules

We present our recent progress on laser cooling AlF molecules using deep UV lasers. AlF is distinctively different from the molecular species that have been laser-cooled so far: it is a stable molecule that can be produced in large quantities and it has a strong A¹Π←X¹Σ⁺ transition near 227.5 nm that can be used for rapid slowing and cooling in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) with a large capture velocity. The electronic structure allows using a Zeeman slower to significantly enhance the number of molecules in the MOT. Similar to alkaline-earth and alkaline-earth-like atoms, AlF has narrow, spin-forbidden a³Π←X¹Σ⁺ transitions near 367 nm for precision spectroscopy and narrow-line cooling. We aim to study collisions between AlF molecules and use the narrow line to explore direct laser cooling to quantum degeneracy.