Towards Microwave Shielding of Laser-Cooled YO Molecules

Direct laser cooling of molecules has overcome the complex internal level structure of diatomic molecules to yield high enough densities for the observation of rapid collisional loss within optical traps. Mitigating these two-body losses in bulk molecular gases is essential for evaporative cooling to reach quantum degeneracy. By engineering long-range dipolar interactions, short-range inelastic collisions can be suppressed via DC electric fields or microwave-induced shielding. We present our work with YO (yttrium monoxide) towards collisional shielding by coupling rotational manifolds with precisely controlled microwave fields. The unique ground-state hyperfine structure of YO enables direct comparison between shielding regimes with and without spin-rotational interactions. We will present preliminary findings for this system.