Slowing and manipulating coherent state evolution of a beam of AlCl

Experiments utilizing ultracold molecules follow the immense success of fully coherent quantum control of atoms. In many ways, the effort to expand exquisite control over quantum matter to molecules is a natural scientific and technical progression which comes with many new interesting opportunities including precision measurement, quantum state-resolved chemistry, and quantum simulation. Achieving the desired scalability of ultracold molecular experiments requires large, densely-trapped samples. Aluminum monochloride (AlCl), combines favorable vibrational branching with an alkaline‑earth–like electronic structure that supports both strong cycling transitions for trap loading and narrow transitions suitable for deep laser cooling and coherent control. Along with these favorable properties come challenges in cycling due to coherent phenomena that stem from AlCl's complex hyperfine structure. We present on our progress slowing a buffer-gas-cooled beam of AlCl while manipulating coherent state evolution to realize and maintain high scattering rates.