Cold Molecules

5th Institute of Physics

Research group led by Prof. Dr. Tim Langen. Laser cooling of atoms and molecules for applications in many-body physics, chemistry and tests of fundamental symmetries.

Learn more about...

Welcome to the Langen Group

We are currenly in the process of moving to the Atominstitut at TU Wien and the Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology. This page will no longer be updated! For the latest news from our lab visit our new website at www.coldmolecules.at.

We explore cold atoms and molecules for quantum science and technology. Our goals include the use of dipolar molecules, to realize new forms of quantum matter and gain insights into the foundations of molecular collisions and chemistry. Moreover, we study molecules that facilitate tabletop precision searches for new physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. Finally, we also develop compact experimental setups to manipulate single atoms and molecules for technological applications.

Research

We use laser cooling to bring atoms and molecules to ultracold temperatures. Laser cooling is a very well established technique for atoms, which is used extensively in many labs around the world. It relies on the fact that atoms can repeatedly absorb and emit a large number of photons with the same wavelength. Intuitively, it seems very challenging to also apply this technique to molecules because of their complex level structure, which e.g. includes many rotational and vibrational levels. However, by carefully chosing suitable transitions laser cooling can still be realized for many molecular species. 

In addition to our work on cold molecules we also contribute to quantum simulations using ultracold magnetic atoms at the institute, and collaborate with the 4th Physics Institute on trapping of single atoms in 3D-printed optical tweezers.

Publications

Funding

We are currently funded by an ERC Starting Grant, the Baden-Württemberg Stiftung, the Vector Stiftung, the Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology (IQST), the MWK Baden-Württemberg, and the University of Stuttgart.

Teaching

Please see the teaching page of the institute.

Team

Contact

This image shows Tim Langen

Tim Langen

Prof. Dr.

Head of Research Group

To the top of the page