Abstract
The parameter , which characterizes nuclear-spin-dependent parity violation (PV) in the molecular spin-rotational Hamiltonian, was computed with a quasirelativistic Hartree-Fock approach for radium fluoride (RaF) and found to be one of the largest absolute values predicted so far. The peculiar electronic structure of RaF leads to highly diagonal Franck-Condon matrices between the energetically lowest two electronic states, which qualifies RaF for direct laser cooling. A subset of diatomic molecules with a wide range of internal structures suitable for this cooling technique is also indicated. As trapped cold molecules offer superior coherence times, RaF can be considered promising for high-precision experiments aimed at molecular PV.
- Received 23 July 2010
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.82.052521
©2010 American Physical Society