Data from: Extreme loss suppression and wide tunability of dipolar interactions in an ultracold molecular gas
Data files
Jul 28, 2026 version files 3 MB
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Fig_1.xlsx
411.47 KB
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Fig_2.xlsx
844.73 KB
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Fig_3.xlsx
1.68 MB
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Fig_4.xlsx
11.85 KB
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Fig_5.xlsx
25.88 KB
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Fig_S3.xlsx
12.12 KB
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Fig_S4.xlsx
8.74 KB
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README.md
8.29 KB
Abstract
Ultracold dipolar molecules hold great promise for the creation of novel quantum states of matter, but the realization of long-lived molecular bulk samples with strong dipole-dipole interactions has remained elusive. Here, we realize a collisionally stable gas of ultracold ground-state molecules with a lifetime of several seconds. Utilizing double microwave dressing, we achieve an extreme suppression of inelastic two- and three-body losses by factors of more than 10,000 and 1,000, respectively. We find that losses remain suppressed across a wide range of dipole-dipole interactions, allowing the continuous tuning of the dipolar length from 0 to 1 um ~ 20,000 a0. Combined with the recent realization of Bose-Einstein condensation of dipolar molecules, our findings open the door to the exploration of strongly dipolar quantum liquids.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.9cnp5hqzr
Description of the data and file structure
The data are organized by figure. Each Excel file corresponds to one figure in the paper and is named accordingly (e.g., Fig_1.xlsx contains the data used to generate Figure 1).
Within each Excel file, individual sheets correspond to specific panels and datasets shown in that figure. Sheet names indicate both the panel label and the physical quantity or model represented.
For example, the structure of Fig_2.xlsx is:
Fig_2.xlsx
├─ PanelA_unshielded_potential
├─ PanelA_single_field_potential
├─ PanelB_...
└─ ...
Files and variables
File: Fig_1.xlsx
Description: The data contains the dipolar length calculated for generating Fig 1 D
Variables
- ad (a0): dipolar length (unit: a0)
- Omega_pi (MHz): the Rabi frequency of the linear pi field ( unit: MHz).
- Omega_sigma(MHz): the Rabi frequency of the circularly polarized field (unit: MHz).
File: Fig_2.xlsx
Description: This file contains the two-body intermolecular potentials for unshielded, single-microwave shielded, and double microwave shielded molecules. Also, it includes the lifetime of molecular samples without shielding and for single and double microwave dressing. The corresponding fitting curves are also provided.
Variables
PanelA_unshielded_potential, single_field_potential and double_field_potential:
- R(a0): the intermolecular axis (unit: a0)
- N(103): the number of molecules at t_hold ( unit: 103).
PanelB_unshielded_loss_data, single_field_loss_data, and double_field_loss_data :
- t_hold (s): the hold time of the molecules in the ODT( unit: second).
- N(103): the number of molecules at t_hold ( unit: 103).
- dN(103): the error bar of the number of molecules ( unit: 103).
PanelB_unshielded_fit, single_field_fit, and double_field_fit :
- t_hold (ms): the hold time of the molecules from the fit ( unit: ms).
- N(103): the number of molecules at t_hold ( unit: 103).
File: Fig_3.xlsx
Description: The data set includes the loss curve ( hold time vs number N) for Delta_sigma/Omega_sigma = 4 and Delta_sigma/Omega_sigma = 0.5. The corresponding fitting curves using the three-body loss model and the two-body loss model are provided as well. Also, it includes the measured two-body and three-body loss coefficients as a function of Delta_sigma/Omega_sigma. The theoretical values of two-body loss coefficients are included as well.
Variables
PanelA_delta_s_Omega_s_0.5_data and PanelA_delta_s_Omega_s_4_data:
- t_hold (s): the hold time of the molecules in the ODT( unit: second).
- N(103): the number of molecules at t_hold ( unit: 103).
- dN(103): the error bar of the number of the molecules ( unit: 10^3).
PanelA_delta_s_Omega_s_0.5_fit and PanelA_delta_s_Omega_4_ fit:
- t_hold (ms): the hold time of the molecules from the fit ( unit: ms).
- nacs(103): the number of the molecules at t_hold ( unit: 103).
PanelB_L_3B:
- Delta_sigma/Omega_sigma : the ratio of the detuning and Rabi frequency of the circularly polarized field ( dimensionless).
- L_3B(10-24 cm6/s): the three-body loss coefficient. ( unit: 10-24 cm6/s).
- L_3B_upper_bound (10-24 cm6/s): the upper bound of the three-body loss coefficient from the fit ( unit: 10-24 cm6/s).
- L_3B_lower_bound (10-24 cm6/s): the lower bound of the three-body loss coefficient from the fit ( unit: 10-24 cm6/s).
PanelB_beta2B:
- Delta_sigma/Omega_sigma: the detuning of the circularly polarized field ( dimensionless).
- beta_2B(10-12 cm3/s) : the two-body loss coefficient. ( unit: 10-12 cm3/s).
- beta_2B_upper_bound (10-12 cm3/s): the upper bound of the two-body loss coefficient from the fit ( unit: 10-12 cm3/s).
- beta_2B_lower_bound (10-12 cm3/s): the lower bound of the two-body loss coefficient from the fit ( unit: 10-12 cm3/s).
PanelB_beta2B_calculation:
- Ratio(Delta_sigma/Omega_sigma): the detuning of the circularly polarized field ( dimensionless).
- beta_2B at Ellip = 5 deg ( cm3/s) : the two-body loss coefficient. ( unit: cm3/s).
- beta_2B at Ellip = 5 deg (cm3/s) : the two-body loss coefficient. ( unit: cm3/s).
File: Fig_4.xlsx
Description: The data includes the measured two-body loss coefficients as a function of Omega_pi vs Omega_sigma; the theoretical calculation is also provided. In addition, the measured three-body loss coefficients as a function of Omega_pi vs Omega_sigma are included.
Variables
PanelA_beta2B_data:
- Omega_pi(MHz): the Rabi frequency of the linearly polarized field ( unit: MHz).
- beta_2B(10-12 cm3/s): the two-body loss efficiency (unit: 10-12 cm3/s).
- dbeta_2B(10-12 cm3/s): the error bar of the two-body loss efficiency (unit: 10-12 cm3/s).
PanelB_L_3B_data:
- Omega_pi(MHz): the Rabi frequency of the linearly polarized field ( unit: MHz).
- L_3B(10-24 cm6/s): the three-body loss efficiency (unit: 10-24 cm6/s).
- lower error (10-24 cm6/s): the lower error bar of the three-body loss efficiency (unit: 10-24 cm6/s).
- upper error (10-24 cm6/s): the upper error bar of three-body loss efficiency (unit: 10-24 cm6/s)
PanelA_beta2B_theory:
- Pi Rabi (MHz): the Rabi frequency of the linear field (unit: MHz).
- loss rate (cm3/s): the calculated two-body loss (unit: cm3/s).
File: Fig_5.xlsx
Description: The data includes the calculated dipolar length as a function of Omega_pi vs Omega_sigma. Also, the projected maximum density achievable with the measured loss rates as a function of Omega_pi vs Omega_sigma is also included. The calculated ratio of dipolar and kinetic energy (r_d) is also provided.
Variables
PanelA_calculated_dipole_length:
- Omega_pi(MHz): the Rabi frequency of the linear field (unit: MHz).
- ad(104 a0): the calculated dipolar length( unit: 104 a0).
PanelB_calculated_n_max:
- Omega_pi(MHz): the Rabi frequency of the linear field (unit: MHz).
- nmax(1012 cm-3): the projected maximum peak density allowed for the given loss rates(unit: 1012cm-3).
PanelC_calculated_r_d:
- Omega_pi(MHz): the Rabi frequency of the linear field (unit: MHz).
- Rd: the ratio between the kinetic energy and interaction energy (unit: dimensionless).
File: Fig_S3.xlsx
Description: The data includes the molecule number and temperature as a function of hold time in a deep trap. The data includes measurements for different Omega_pi/Omega_sigma ratios. The numbers are raw data without correction of STIRAP efficiency. You may see that for the very long hold time, the temperature looks like 250 nK +/- 250 nK. This indicates that we cannot measure the temperature accurately enough due to low signal-to-noise, while we are still able to obtain a reasonable measurement of the molecular number. However, our fitting is coded in a way that both number and temperature are required for each hold time. Therefore, we include a pseudo temperature such as 250+/-250 nK for the code. However, the fitting results do not depend on these temperatures as the error is extremely large and the weighting of these temperatures is basically zero.
Variables
For all the sheets:
- t_hold (ms): the hold time of molecules in the optical dipole trap.
- N(1000): the number of molecules (unit: 1000, dimensionless).
- dN(1000): the error bar of the number of molecules (unit: 1000, dimensionless).
- T(nK): the temperature of the molecules, measured from Time-of-flight(unit: nK).
- dT(nK): the error bar of the temperature (unit: nK).
File: Fig_S4.xlsx
Description: The data includes the chi^2 of two-body and three-body fitting models for single-microwave shielding.
Variables
- Sigma det (MHz): The detuning of the circularly polarized microwave field ( unit, MHz).
- Chi2 total_2B: the chi2 when fitting the data to a two-body loss model. (unit, dimensionless).
- Chi2 total_3BL: the chi2 when fitting the data to a three-body loss model. (unit, dimensionless).