Laser Cooled Polyatomic Molecules for Fundamental Physics and Quantum Science

Laser cooled polyatomic molecules represent a new frontier in ultracold physics, complementing and sometimes surpassing the scientific capabilities of ultracold diatomic molecules. Notably, polyatomic molecules generically possess low-lying, closely spaced energy levels with opposite parity. These "parity doublets" result in long-lived, fully polarizable quantum states with minimal sensitivity to external perturbations the hold the promise of significant improvements to searches for physics beyond the Standard Model, including probing for the electron's electric dipole moment (eEDM). Here we present results on laser-cooling and optical trapping of polyatomic molecules. We establish coherent control of individual quantum states in CaOH to demonstrate a powerful method for searching for the eEDM. Optically trapped, ultracold CaOH molecules are prepared in a single quantum state, polarized in an electric field, and coherently transferred into an eEDM sensitive state where an electron spin precession measurement is performed. To extend the coherence time of the measurement, we utilize eEDM sensitive states with tunable, near-zero magnetic field sensitivity. These results establish a path for eEDM searches with trapped polyatomic molecules, towards orders-of-magnitude improved experimental sensitivity to time-reversal-violating physics. Finally, we present progress towards establishing individual particle control and high-fidelity readout using optical tweezer arrays of polyatomic molecules.