Atomic and molecular physics articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The formation of C–H bonds via reaction of small inorganic molecules is of great interest for understanding the transition from inorganic to organic matter, but the detailed mechanisms remain elusive. Here, the authors demonstrate real-time visualization and coherent control of the ultrafast C–H bond formation dynamics in a light-induced bimolecular reaction from inorganic species.

    • Zhejun Jiang
    • , Hao Huang
    •  & Jian Wu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The advent of isolated attosecond XUV pulse sources marks a new era in attosecond science, pivotal for the investigation of core electron dynamics. Here the authors discover that the coherent Raman coupling between the cation states leads to extra timedelay between different transition channels by applying the attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy on the investigation of complex dynamics of strong field ionization of Krypton.

    • Li Wang
    • , Guangru Bai
    •  & Zengxiu Zhao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Using gas cells for spectroscopic studies opens possibility for miniaturized platforms that can be integrated with other optical components. Here the authors demonstrate molecular rovibrational spectroscopy by confining molecules in a cell of subwavelength thickness.

    • Guadalupe Garcia Arellano
    • , Joao Carlos de Aquino Carvalho
    •  & Athanasios Laliotis

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding excitonic optical excitations is integral to improving optoelectronic and photovoltaic semiconductor devices. Here, Bennecke et al. use photoemission exciton tomography to unravel the multiorbital electron and hole contributions of entangled excitonic states in the prototypical organic semiconductor C60.

    • Wiebke Bennecke
    • , Andreas Windischbacher
    •  & Stefan Mathias

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While high-energy heavy ions create cylindrical damage zones called ion tracks in many materials, diamond was an exception for a long time. The authors have succeeded in creating the ion tracks in diamond utilizing 2−9MeV C60 fullerene ion irradiation and studied the structure of the tracks.

    • H. Amekura
    • , A. Chettah
    •  & Y. Saitoh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    R.-J. Slager et al. extend the theory of multigap topology from static to non-equilibrium systems. They identify Floquet-induced non-Abelian braiding, resulting in a phase characterized by anomalous Euler class, a multi-gap topological invariant. They also find a gapped anomalous Dirac string phase. Both phases have no static counterparts and exhibit distinct boundary signatures.

    • Robert-Jan Slager
    • , Adrien Bouhon
    •  & F. Nur Ünal

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors demonstrate a method controlling the lattice filling of doped 1D Bose-Hubbard system of Rb atoms composed of chains of 3 to 6 sites in an optical lattice. The control is achieved by changing of the light potential and interaction strength.

    • Andrea Di Carli
    • , Christopher Parsonage
    •  & Stefan Kuhr

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Neural wavefunctions have become a highly accurate approach to solve the Schrödinger equation. Here, the authors propose an approach to optimize for a generalized wavefunction across compounds, which can help developing a foundation wavefunction model.

    • Michael Scherbela
    • , Leon Gerard
    •  & Philipp Grohs

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Probing molecules in excited vibrational states requires precise methods to extract the spectroscopic parameters. Here the authors demonstrate optical-optical double-resonance spectroscopy of excited-bands of methane using single pass high power continuous wave pump and cavity-enhanced frequency comb probe.

    • Vinicius Silva de Oliveira
    • , Isak Silander
    •  & Aleksandra Foltynowicz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In trilobite Rydberg molecules a ground state atom is coupled to a Rydberg (high-angular momentum) atom, and a potential well is formed in their potential energy curves. Here the authors report observation of vibrational series in pure trilobite rubidium Rydberg molecules created by three-photon photoassociation.

    • Max Althön
    • , Markus Exner
    •  & Herwig Ott

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Bringing atom-interferometric quantum sensors out of the lab requires the mitigation of several sources of noise. Here, the authors experimentally demonstrate a software-based mitigation method based on tailored error-robust Bragg light-pulse beamsplitters and mirrors.

    • Jack C. Saywell
    • , Max S. Carey
    •  & Michael J. Biercuk

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Synthetic gauge field in ultracold atoms provides a controllable platform for the study of quantum many-body physics. Here the authors demonstrate frustrated chiral dynamics in synthetic triangular flux ladder under strong interaction using ultracold Cs atoms.

    • Yuqing Li
    • , Huiying Du
    •  & Suotang Jia

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ultracold atoms in arrays represent a useful platform to study quantum processes. Here the authors use Floquet frequency modulation to entangle neutral atoms beyond the usual Rydberg blockade range, protect entangled-state coherence, and realize Rydberg anti-blockade states for two atoms at close range.

    • Luheng Zhao
    • , Michael Dao Kang Lee
    •  & Huanqian Loh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    THz-driven electron emission is predicted to yield a single burst, due to the single-cycle waveform. Here, the authors demonstrate the confinement of single-cycle THz-waveform-driven electron emission to one of the two half cycles and the control of the active half cycle by changing the field polarity.

    • Shaoxian Li
    • , Ashutosh Sharma
    •  & József A. Fülöp

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Realising a quantum-backaction-limited oscillator in the acoustic frequency range would have applications in sensing and metrology. Here, the authors reach this goal by demonstrating destructive interference between quantum back-action noise and shot noise down to sub-kHz range in a warm atomic vapor cell.

    • Jun Jia
    • , Valeriy Novikov
    •  & Eugene S. Polzik

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Multiparameter sensors in quantum optics are often complex due to use of external fields. Here the authors demonstrate a simple single-shot all-optical vector atomic magnetometer based on machine learning for the correspondence of the measured signals and the magnetic field.

    • Xin Meng
    • , Youwei Zhang
    •  & Yanhong Xiao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Intense light pulses can create nonlinear ionization processes in atoms and molecules. Here the authors study the photoionization of xenon atoms using intense free-electron laser pulses that can create extremely high charge states and produce hollow atoms, featuring up to six simultaneous core-holes.

    • Aljoscha Rörig
    • , Sang-Kil Son
    •  & Rebecca Boll

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Rydberg atom arrays are a promising platform for simulating many-body systems. The authors introduce a tensor-network method to compute phase diagrams of infinite arrays with long-range interactions and experimental-scale finite arrays, unveiling a new entangled phase and offering a guide for experiments.

    • Matthew J. O’Rourke
    •  & Garnet Kin-Lic Chan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Capturing the detailed structural evolution of electronic excited states is a challenging but critical step to understand and control ultrafast molecular dynamics. Here, combining a Coulomb explosion imaging approach and molecular dynamics simulations, the authors retrieve the transient geometry of the ground and excited states of D2O mono- and dication with few femtosecond, few picometre accuracy.

    • Zhenzhen Wang
    • , Xiaoqing Hu
    •  & Dajun Ding

  • Article
    | Open Access

    An Alice ring is related to the unusual topology of the monopole field and its decay. Here the authors demonstrate a topological monopole defect in the form of an Alice ring using gaseous Bose–Einstein condensates of 87Rb atoms.

    • Alina Blinova
    • , Roberto Zamora-Zamora
    •  & David S. Hall

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Measurement and control of the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) is essential for applications of few-cycle laser beams. The authors present a compact on-chip, ambient-air, CEP scanning probe and show a 3D map of spatial changes of CEP and demonstrate CEP control in the focal volume with a spatial light modulator.

    • Václav Hanus
    • , Beatrix Fehér
    •  & Péter Dombi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Uncovering the mechanism behind neutral H2 formation from ionised hydrocarbon molecules still poses severe challenges. Here, based on the orbital fingerprints in the photoelectron momentum distributions, the authors were able to resolve the contributions of the ground and excited ionic states to the H2 formation channel.

    • Yizhang Yang
    • , Hao Ren
    •  & Dajun Ding

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Testing general relativity with optical clocks is important both as a fundamental test and for metrological applications. Here, a vertical linear array of 5 separate ensembles of strontium atoms trapped in a single optical lattice is used to perform a blinded lab-based test of the gravitational redshift at the mm to cm scale.

    • Xin Zheng
    • , Jonathan Dolde
    •  & Shimon Kolkowitz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Control of chemical reactivity through excitation of rotational states is a relatively unexplored process that may play a role in interstellar chemistry. Here the authors show a marked acceleration of the hydrogen abstraction reaction between SiO+ and H2 by exciting super-rotor states of SiO+, in a joint experimental and theoretical study.

    • Sruthi Venkataramanababu
    • , Anyang Li
    •  & Brian C. Odom

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Compact atomic clocks and atom interferometers are desired for on-chip integration. Here the authors demonstrate a chip-scale atomic beam of 87Rb atoms and its application as an atomic beam clock

    • Gabriela D. Martinez
    • , Chao Li
    •  & William R. McGehee

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Low-energy excitations of strongly correlated systems are described by the Tomonaga–Luttinger liquid theory. Here the authors employ Bragg spectroscopy to demonstrate a spin-incoherent Luttinger liquid in 6Li atoms using charge and spin excitations.

    • Danyel Cavazos-Cavazos
    • , Ruwan Senaratne
    •  & Randall G. Hulet

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ultracold atoms are generated in the lab using optical trapping and cooling. Here the authors implement a fiber-coupled photonic integrated circuit for a beam delivery to a three-dimensional magneto-optical trap where greater than 1 million rubidium atoms are cooled near 200 μK.

    • Andrei Isichenko
    • , Nitesh Chauhan
    •  & Daniel J. Blumenthal

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Spontaneous Raman scattering is classically understood as an incoherent process. Here, the authors demonstrate that macroscopic quantum coherence among billions of vibrating molecules in a liquid is generated when single photon detection and single spatio-temporal mode excitation are implemented.

    • Valeria Vento
    • , Santiago Tarrago Velez
    •  & Christophe Galland

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Photoabsorption and electron capture are known to induce quantum coherence in molecular dynamics. Here, the authors show that a non-resonant inelastic scattering of incoherent electrons induces such a coherence, which is the most general but hitherto unexplored way of triggering the coherent dynamics in a molecule.

    • Akshay Kumar
    • , Suvasis Swain
    •  & Vaibhav S. Prabhudesai

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Experiments suggest that placing molecules in an infrared cavity alters their reactivity, an effect lacking a clear theoretical explanation. Here, the authors show that the key to understanding this process may lie in quantum light-matter interactions.

    • Lachlan P. Lindoy
    • , Arkajit Mandal
    •  & David R. Reichman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Reliably identifying transient intermediates is crucial to elucidate chemical reaction mechanisms. Here, the authors use femtosecond Fe Kβ main line and valence-to-core x-ray emission spectroscopy to characterize a short-lived intermediate of the aqueous ferricyanide photo-aquation reaction.

    • Marco Reinhard
    • , Alessandro Gallo
    •  & Dimosthenis Sokaras

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Polarons are quasi-particles that emerge when impurity particle is mixed with the low-energy excitations of a medium. Here the authors study the case of atom-ion quantum mixtures and identify three separate bipolaronic regimes which can arise depending on the interaction range and strength.

    • Grigory E. Astrakharchik
    • , Luis A. Peña Ardila
    •  & Antonio Negretti

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The quantum properties of hydrogen atoms in zeolite-catalyzed reactions are generally neglected due to high computational costs. Here, the authors leverage machine learning to derive accurate quantum kinetics for proton transfer reactions in heterogeneous catalysis.

    • Massimo Bocus
    • , Ruben Goeminne
    •  & Veronique Van Speybroeck

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Light interaction with atoms depends on the strength of the light-matter coupling and the energy splitting of the modes involved. Here the authors study of quantum Rabi dynamics in a deep strong coupling regime by using a cloud of cold rubidium atoms.

    • Johannes Koch
    • , Geram R. Hunanyan
    •  & Martin Weitz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A possible route to scalability of trapped-ion-based quantum computing platforms is to connect multiple modules where ions can be shuttled across different registers. Here, the authors demonstrate fast and low-loss transfer of trapped ions between two microchip modules.

    • M. Akhtar
    • , F. Bonus
    •  & W. K. Hensinger

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ultracold ensembles are promising sources for precision measurements when their quantum state can precisely be prepared. Here the authors achieve a quantum state engineering of Bose-Einstein condensates in space using NASA’s Cold Atom Lab aboard the International Space Station making a step forward towards space quantum sensing.

    • Naceur Gaaloul
    • , Matthias Meister
    •  & Nicholas P. Bigelow

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