Ultracold molecules provide a powerful and versatile platform for quantum computing,simulation, and metrology applications. The cornerstone technique for generating these cold, dense samples of molecular gasses is the magneto-optical trap (MOT). Conventional molecular MOTs use red-detuned light, limiting them to relatively high temperatures and low densities, leading to small spatial overlap and low loading efficiency...

Platforms based on molecules manipulated using ‘optical tweezers’ might be able to perform complex physics calculations. Physicists have taken the first step towards building quantum computers out of individual molecules trapped with laser devices called optical tweezers. Two teams report their results in Science on 7 December in both cases making pairs of calcium monofluoride...

One of the fundamental questions in the study of ultracold polar molecules is “what happens when two molecules collide at ultracold temperatures?” Knowing whether the molecules undergo chemical reactions, form long lived complexes, change internal state, or bounce off each other carries important implications which will guide future research directions. Our recent experiment explores this...