Sebastian Will
Columbia University
Creating and Exploring Bose-Einstein Condensates of Dipolar Molecules
Location: 1080 Physics Research Building
Faculty Host: Eric Braaten
Abstract: Recently, we have created the first BECs of dipolar molecules [1]. We evaporatively cool a gas of sodium-cesium molecules to below 10 nanokelvin, deep in the quantum degenerate regime. The BECs live for several seconds. This dramatic improvement over previous attempts to cool molecules is enabled by collisional shielding via microwave dressing, suppressing inelastic losses by four orders of magnitude. Microwave dressing provides an exceptional level of tunability of dipole-dipole interactions, opening the door to novel phases of matter in molecular quantum liquids. Most recently, we have observed the self-bound droplets in a gas of strongly dipolar molecules [2].
In this talk, I will discuss our experimental approach, share latest insights, and give an outlook on novel opportunities enabled by molecular BECs for many-body quantum physics, quantum simulation, and quantum computing. In addition, I will give a brief overview of our broader efforts in quantum. These include advances on single atom trapping in metasurface optical tweezer arrays [3] and collaborative efforts with Brookhaven National Lab to realize a quantum network in the greater New York area.
[1] Bigagli, Yuan, Zhang, et al., Observation of Bose-Einstein condensation of dipolar molecules, Nature 631, 289-293 (2024)
[2] Zhang, Yuan, et al., Observation of self-bound droplets of ultracold dipolar molecules, arXiv:2507.15208 (2025)
[3] Holman, Xu, et al., Trapping of single atoms in metasurface optical tweezer arrays, arXiv:2411.05321 (2024)
Bio: Sebastian Will is an Associate rofessor of physics at Columbia University. His research focuses on ultracold atoms and molecules for applications in fundamental science, quantum simulation, quantum computing, and quantum networking. Sebastian is the recipient of the Columbia RISE Award, the NSF Career Award, and the Sloan Fellowship. His research is supported by NSF, AFOSR, ARO, ONR, DOE, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.