May 2025
Efficient cooling to less than 10 nK enabled allowed the observation of the first BEC of polar ground state molecules
May 2025
The Will Lab investigates quantum systems of ultracold atoms and molecules. We cool atoms and molecules to ultracold temperatures close to above absolute zero - reaching the coldest temperatures allowed by nature. At these temperatures, the behavior of particles is determined by the laws of quantum mechanics. Using the precision tools of atomic physics, we have full control over the quantum state of each particle and the interactions between them.
We work towards single atom and single molecule and create novel many-body quantum systems, and perform quantum simulations of strongly interacting matter. Our research program focusses on fundamental questions in many-body quantum physics, quantum simulation, and quantum optics, and contributes to the development of modern quantum technologies. For more details go to Research.
Recent News
May 11, 2025
Single atom trapping in a metasurface array of 256 traps
Next important development in the TweeSr Lab - trapping of single strontium atoms in a metasurface array with 256 traps. Also, check out this wonderful portrait about Aaron Holman, senior grad student on TweeSr, discussing the excitement of trapping single atoms, which science we are working on, how we collaborate with our Columbia colleagues Nanfang Yu and Alexander Gaeta, and how the project will tie into the broader efforts of the New York Quantum Network. Link: https://quantum.columbia.edu/news/how-catch-atom
November 11, 2024
Trapping of single atoms in metasurface tweezer arrays
Check out our latest work on the trapping of strontium atoms in optical tweezer arrays generated via holographic metasurfaces. We demonstrate a high degree of array uniformity in terms of trap depth, trap frequency, and positional accuracy. Furthermore, we show that - due to sub-micrometer pixel sizes and high pixel densities - holographic metasurfaces open a path towards optical tweezer arrays with more than 100,000 traps. A big thank you to the TweeSr team and our collaborators at the Nanfang Yu lab for the amazing work!
Link: arXiv:2411.05321
December 24, 2024
Two papers out in PRL back-to-back
Christmas present! Our two papers on single-molecule and three-molecule effects of microwave shielding just appeared back-to-back in Physical Review Letters. Congrats to everyone and also big thank you to Chris Greene, Shayamal Singh, and Ahmed Elkamshishy for the fruitful collaboration!
and
July 9, 2024
Three-body recombination of microwave-shielded molecules
In this work, we study three-body collisions in a gas of ultracold dipolar molecules. Our data shows that three-body recombination can explain performance limits of microwave-shielding, which have so far been unexplained. We compare experimental data of three-body loss rates with the results of a classical trajectory model for recombination and find excellent agreement. The insights are efficient cooling of dipolar molecules and point to rich three-body physics.
Funding
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