Towards Bose–Einstein Condensate with laser-cooled molecules

Laser cooling and trapping of polar molecules has seen remarkable progress in the past decade, enabling applications in quantum information, quantum chemistry, and precision measurements. In particular, techniques such as laser cooling, magneto-optical trapping, sub-Doppler cooling, and long-lifetime trapping of polar molecules have been successfully demonstrated. This review highlights key achievements, including advancements in phase space density, with the long-term objective of achieving Bose–Einstein condensation in laser-cooled molecules. It also discusses the current challenges and potential strategies for reaching this milestone.

Funding: We acknowledge the support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants No. 12425408, No. U21A20437, and No. 12074337, the National Key Research and Development Program of China under Grants No. 2023YFA1406703 and No. 2022YFA1404203, Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province under Grant No. LR21A040002, and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities under Grant No. 226- 2023-00131.

Article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.qrl.2025.03.001

Journal: Quantum Review Letters