Cold Chemistry and Optical Cycling in CH Radicals

Recent advances in molecular laser cooling have opened new opportunities for quantum control across a wide range of species. We extend these techniques to CH, a light organic radical whose electronic structure offers diagonal Franck-Condon factors on the X-A transition. The low mass and blue-wavelength cycling transition in CH enables a large photon recoil velocity, reducing the required photon budget and rovibrational closure needed to load a magneto‑optical trapping. Our experiment aims to leverage these features to develop a platform for studies of ultracold organic chemistry. We will present an experimental update, including measurements of cold organic chemistry in our cryogenic source and results demonstrating optical cycling.