Christian Hallas, Grace K. Li, Nathaniel B. Vilas, Paige Robichaud, Loïc Anderegg, John M. Doyle
We demonstrate a blue-detuned magneto-optical trap (MOT) of a polyatomic molecule, calcium monohydroxide (CaOH).
We demonstrate a blue-detuned magneto-optical trap (MOT) of a polyatomic molecule, calcium monohydroxide (CaOH). We identify a novel MOT frequency configuration that produces high spatial compression of the molecular cloud. This high compression MOT achieves a cloud radius of 59(5) μm and a peak density of 8(2)×10^{8} cm^{-3}. We experimentally compare several blue-detuned MOT schemes for CaOH and find good agreement between our data and Monte Carlo simulations.