Brian Odom
Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy
- b-odom@northwestern.edu
- Website
- 847-467-5452
- Tech F137
Research Interests
The Odom Research Group is developing new technology to manipulate trapped molecular ions. In most of these efforts, molecular ions held in radiofrequency Paul traps are sympathetically cooled to below 1 Kelvin, through their Coulomb interaction with co-trapped laser-cooled atomic ions. We are developing techniques to cool not only the motion of the trapped molecular ions but also their rotations and vibrations. Having technology to obtain molecular ions which are cold both in their internal and external degrees of freedom would open up a range of new applied physics possibilities, including coherent control, molecular alignment and orientation, and quantum computing.
Selected Publications
C.-Y. Lien, C.M. Seck, Y.-W. Lin, J.H.V. Nguyen, D. Tabor, B.C. Odom,“Broadband Optical Cooling of Molecular Rotors from Room Temperature to the Ground State,”Nat. Commun. 5, 4783 (2014).
Y.-W. Lin, S. Williams, and B. C. Odom, "Resonant Few-Photon Excitation of a Single-Ion Oscillator," Phys. Rev. A 87, 011402(R) (2013).
D.A. Tabor, V. Rajagopal, Y-W. Lin and B. Odom, "Suitability of linear quadrupole ion traps for large Coulomb crystals," Appl. Phys. B 107, 1097-1104 (2012).
C. Lien, S. Williams and B. Odom, "Optical pulse-shaping for internal cooling of molecules," Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 13, 18825-18829 (2011).
J.H.V. Nguyen, C.R. Viteri, E.G. Hohenstein, C.D. Sherrill, K.R. Brown and B. Odom, "Challenges of laser-cooling molecular ions," New J. Phys. 13, 063023 (2011).
J.H.V. Nguyen and B. Odom, "Prospects for Doppler cooling of three-electronic-level molecules," Phys Rev. A 83, 053404 (2011).
“Improved Spin-Dependent WIMP Limits from a Bubble Chamber,” E. Behnke, J.I. Collar, P.S. Cooper, K. Crum, M. Crisler, M. Hu, I. Levine, D. Nakazawa, H. Nguyen, B. Odom, E. Ramberg, J. Rasmussen, N. Riley, A. Sonnenschein, M. Szydagis, and R. Tschirhart. Science 319, 933 (2008).