%0 Journal Article
%T Vibrational branching ratios and hyperfine structure of 11BH and its suitability for laser cooling
%A R. J. Hendricks
%A D. A. Holland
%A S. Truppe
%A B. E. Sauer
%A M. R. Tarbutt
%J Frontiers in Physics
%D 2014
%I Frontiers Media
%R 10.3389/fphy.2014.00051
%X The simple structure of the BH molecule makes it an excellent candidate for direct laser cooling. We measure the branching ratios for the decay of the A1¦° (v¡ä = 0) state to vibrational levels of the ground state, X1¦²+, and find that they are exceedingly favorable for laser cooling. We verify that the branching ratio for the spin-forbidden transition to the intermediate a3¦° state is inconsequentially small. We measure the frequency of the lowest rotational transition of the X state, and the hyperfine structure in the relevant levels of both the X and A states, and determine the nuclear electric quadrupole and magnetic dipole coupling constants. Our results show that, with a relatively simple laser cooling scheme, a Zeeman slower and magneto-optical trap can be used to cool, slow and trap BH molecules.
%K vibrational branching ratios
%K Frank-Condon factors
%K hyperfine structure
%K cooling molecules
%K boron hydride
%K laser spectroscopy
%K mm-wave spectroscopy
%U http://www.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fphy.2014.00051/abstract