Laser Cooling and Trapping of Sodium Atoms for Quantum Gas Microscopy of Ultracold NaRb Molecules

Abstract

Quantum materials, such as high-temperature superconductors and quantum magnets, exhibit many unusual properties that make them potentially useful in technological applications. However, because the physical theories that govern the behavior of strongly correlated materials are still poorly understood, quantum simulations are used to model systems of interest. Ultracold atomic and molecular quantum gases serve as an excellent platform for quantum simulations because they provide complete dynamical control over relevant physical parameters and are entirely isolated from the surrounding environment.

In this thesis, we describe our contributions to the development of a novel molecular quantum gas microscope (MQGM), which will use an array of interacting ultracold NaRb molecules to study the physics of dipolar Bose gases and quantum magnets. In the first part of this thesis, we describe the design and assembly of a laser system for cooling and trapping sodium atoms. Then we report on the realization of a 2-D magneto-optical trap (MOT) of sodium and using it as an atomic source to load a 3-D MOT. In the second part of this thesis, we describe computational calculations of the NaRb vibrational spectrum that we performed using a Fourier Grid Hamiltonian implementation. Through these calculations, we verified that the \({\nu' = 38, J = 1}\) rovibrational state of the \({A^1\Sigma^+}\) - \({b^3\Pi}\) complex is a suitable intermediate state for use in Stimulated Raman Adiabatic Passage (STIRAP). The STIRAP process will be used in the experiment in the future to transfer weakly bound Feshbach NaRb molecules to the lowest rovibrational state of the ground state singlet potential \({X^1\Sigma^+}\).