Abstract

We propose a novel scheme to guide cold polar molecules on the surface of an insulating substrate (i.e., a chip) using a static electric field generated by the combination of a pair of parallel charged wires and a grounded metal plate. We calculate the spatial distributions of the electric fields from the above charged-wire layout and their Stark potentials for cold CO molecules, and analyze the relationships between the electric field and the parameters of the charged-wire layout. The result shows that this charged-wire scheme can be used to guide cold polar molecules in the weak-field-seeking state and to form various molecule-optical elements, even to realize a single-mode molecular waveguide on a molecule chip under certain conditions.

© 2005 Chinese Optics Letters