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High-efficiency quantum-state detection of ThF+ with resonance-enhanced multiphoton asymmetric dissociation

Kia Boon Ng1,*, Sun Yool Park2, Anzhou Wang2, Addison Hartman2, Patricia Hector Hernandez2, Rohan Kompella2, Lan Cheng3, Stephan Malbrunot-Ettenauer1,4, Jun Ye2 et al.

Eric A. Cornell2

  • *Contact author: kbng@triumf.ca
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Phys. Rev. A 112, 053104 – Published 6 November, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/mzd6-9kml

Abstract

Efficient quantum-state detection is crucial for many precision control experiments, such as the ongoing effort to probe the electron's electric dipole moment using trapped molecular ThF+232 ions at JILA. While quantum-state detection through state-selective photodissociation has been successfully implemented on this molecule, progress has been hindered by low dissociation efficiency. In this work, we perform spectroscopy on the molecule to identify excited states that facilitate more efficient photodissociation. For the most favorable transition, we achieve a dissociation efficiency of 57(14)% with quantum-state selectivity. Additionally, we discuss several state detection protocols that leverage favorable excited states that will facilitate simultaneous readout of all EDM relevant states, allowing further improvement of overall statistics.

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Phys. Rev. A 112, 053104– Published 6 November, 2025
  • Received 20 April 2025
  • Accepted 11 September 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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