Toward Cavity-Enabled Non-Destructive Readout of Molecular States

Molecules are powerful probes for precision measurements and searches for new physics, including tests of discrete symmetries, and detection of dark matter and new fundamental forces. Their rich internal structure also makes them attractive for applications in metrology, quantum simulation, and quantum computing. While major progress has been made in the production, cooling, trapping and coherent manipulation of molecules, optical cavities, widely used in atomic systems for sensitive and non-destructive readout, remain largely unexplored in molecular experiments. Here we adapt theoretical models of light-atom interaction in optical cavities to perform numerical simulations of the response of SrF molecules coupled to a cavity. We show that near-concentric cavities with a wide range of finesse can provide measurement uncertainties below the standard quantum limit (SQL). Moreover, we show that a high cavity-molecule detuning allows for non-destructive state readout in a fast timescale in the order of milliseconds. These results define design targets for implementing cavity-based, non-destructive readout in molecular systems and motivate ongoing experimental efforts toward cavity QED with cold molecules.