Brian Odom
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View article: Beyond Copenhagen: Following the Trail of Decoherence in Feynman's Light Microscope
Beyond Copenhagen: Following the Trail of Decoherence in Feynman's Light Microscope Open
Feynman's light microscope invites us to reconsider what we thought we knew about quantum reality. Rather than invoking wavefunction collapse to predict the loss of fringes in a monitored interferometer, Feynman analyzes the problem in ter…
View article: Enhancing reactivity of SiO<sup>+</sup> ions by controlled excitation to extreme rotational states
Enhancing reactivity of SiO<sup>+</sup> ions by controlled excitation to extreme rotational states Open
Reaction of SiO+ with H2
View article: Enhancing reactivity of SiO$^+$ ions by controlled excitation to extreme rotational states
Enhancing reactivity of SiO$^+$ ions by controlled excitation to extreme rotational states Open
Optical pumping of molecules provides unique opportunities for control of chemical reactions at a wide range of rotational energies. This work reports a chemical reaction with extreme rotational excitation of a reactant and its kinetic cha…
View article: Features of Molecular Structure Beneficial for Optical Pumping
Features of Molecular Structure Beneficial for Optical Pumping Open
Fast and efficient state preparation of molecules can be accomplished by optical pumping. Molecular structure that most obviously facilitates cycling involves a strong electronic transition, with favorable vibrational branching (diagonal F…
View article: Precisely spun super rotors
Precisely spun super rotors Open
Improved optical control of molecular quantum states promises new applications including chemistry in the quantum regime, precision tests of fundamental physics, and quantum information processing. While much work has sought to prepare gro…
View article: Cooling of a Zero-Nuclear-Spin Molecular Ion to a Selected Rotational State
Cooling of a Zero-Nuclear-Spin Molecular Ion to a Selected Rotational State Open
We demonstrate rotational cooling of the silicon monoxide cation via optical pumping by a spectrally filtered broadband laser. Compared with diatomic hydrides, SiO^{+} is more challenging to cool because of its smaller rotational interval.…
View article: Prospects for a polar-molecular-ion optical probe of varying proton-electron mass ratio
Prospects for a polar-molecular-ion optical probe of varying proton-electron mass ratio Open
Molecules with deep vibrational potential wells provide optical intervals sensitive to variation in the proton-electron mass ratio ($\mu$). On one hand, polar molecules are of interest since optical state preparation techniques have been d…
View article: Optical Pumping of TeH<sup>+</sup>: Implications for Search for Varying <em>m<sub>p</sub></em>/<em>m<sub>e</sub></em>
Optical Pumping of TeH<sup>+</sup>: Implications for Search for Varying <em>m<sub>p</sub></em>/<em>m<sub>e</sub></em> Open
Molecular overtone transitions provide optical frequency transitions sensitive to variation in the proton-to-electron mass ratio (μ = mp/me). However, robust molecular state preparation presents a challenge critical for achieving high p…
View article: CHARACTERIZING MOLECULAR IONS FOR LASER CONTROL
CHARACTERIZING MOLECULAR IONS FOR LASER CONTROL Open
Variation of fundamental constants would indicate physics beyond the Standard Model. Astronomical evidence and proposed theoretical models suggest a possible variation in the proton to electron mass ratio ($\\mu$). Detection of $\\mu$ vari…
View article: SPECTOSCOPY OF SiO AND SiO+ IN SUPPORT OF ULTACOLD MOLECULE STUDIES
SPECTOSCOPY OF SiO AND SiO+ IN SUPPORT OF ULTACOLD MOLECULE STUDIES Open
Our group has been studying the reactions of hydrogen atoms (H atoms) with various molecules (NO, N$_{2}$O, CH$_{3}$OH) in solid hydrogen for the last several years.\\footnote{F.M. Mutunga, S.E. Follett, D.T. Anderson, \\textit{J. Chem. Ph…
View article: Optical Frequency Trapped Ion Probe for a Varying Proton-to-Electron Mass Ratio
Optical Frequency Trapped Ion Probe for a Varying Proton-to-Electron Mass Ratio Open
Molecules with deep potential wells provide optical transitions sensitive to variation in the proton-to-electron mass ratio ($\mu$). Here we propose the molecular ion TeH$^+$ as a favorable candidate for an improved laboratory search for c…
View article: High extinction amplitude modulation in ultrashort pulse shaping
High extinction amplitude modulation in ultrashort pulse shaping Open
We explored the issues related to the resolution and the modulation extinction when filtering the spectrum of a UV femtosecond laser with a standard ultrashort pulse shaper. We have learned that a higher pulse shaping resolution often requ…
View article: Noise reduction of a Libbrecht–Hall style current driver
Noise reduction of a Libbrecht–Hall style current driver Open
The Libbrecht–Hall circuit is a well-known, low-noise current driver for narrow-linewidth diode lasers. An important feature of the circuit is a current limit to protect the laser diode. As the current approaches the maximum limit, however…
View article: Raman sideband cooling of a 138Ba+ ion using a single Zeeman interval
Raman sideband cooling of a 138Ba+ ion using a single Zeeman interval Open
Motional ground state cooling and internal state preparation are important elements for quantum logic spectroscopy (QLS), a class of quantum information processing. Since QLS does not require the high gate fidelities usually associated wit…
View article: Trapped Ion Chain Thermometry and Mass Spectrometry through Imaging
Trapped Ion Chain Thermometry and Mass Spectrometry through Imaging Open
We demonstrate a spatial-imaging thermometry technique for ions in a one-dimensional Coulomb crystal by relating their imaged spatial extent along the linear radiofrequency ion trap axis to normal modes of vibration of coupled oscillators …
View article: Simple and compact nozzle design for laser vaporization sources
Simple and compact nozzle design for laser vaporization sources Open
We have developed and implemented a compact transparent nozzle for use in laser vaporization sources. This nozzle eliminates the need for an ablation aperture, allowing for a more intense molecular beam. We use this nozzle to prepare a mol…
View article: Novel, Retroreflective, Magneto-Optical Trap Near a Surface
Novel, Retroreflective, Magneto-Optical Trap Near a Surface Open
We report on a novel Magneto-Optical Trap (MOT) geometry involving the retroreflection of one of the six MOT beams in order to create an atom cloud close to the surface of a prism which does not have optical access along one axis. A MOT of…
View article: Closed and Not Closed: Mitigating a Mystery on Chandra's Door
Closed and Not Closed: Mitigating a Mystery on Chandra's Door Open
The Chandra X-ray Observatory is part of NASA's fleet of "Great Observatories" along with the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the now deorbited Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. The observatory was designed to detect …