AlCl Precursor Optimization and Hyperfine Characterization Towards Laser Cooling

Cooling atoms to the ultracold regime has allowed for studies of physics, ranging from many-body physics of quantum degenerate gases, quantum computing, precision measurements and tests of fundamental symmetries. Extending these experiments to polar molecules has the prospect of enhancing the sensitivity of such tests and of enabling novel studies, such as cold controlled chemistry. However, applying traditional laser cooling techniques to molecules is rendered difficult due to their additional degrees of freedom which result in a limited photon scattering budget. Here we study the 261.5nm X¹Σ⁺ to A¹Π transition in aluminum monochloride (AlCl) as a promising candidate for laser cooling and trapping. Our spectroscopy results indicate the Franck-Condon factors of 99.88% of the v=v’=0 manifold to be amenable to laser cooling, in agreement with our ab-initio calculations. Furthermore, we present our detailed study on maximizing the yield of AlCl molecules by laser ablation of KCl + Al mixture targets, while monitoring the K, Al and AlCl yields, and discuss a nonequilibrium recombination model of the process. We will also present preliminary work towards theoretically modeling the slowing and trapping process of AlCl.