近日，美国国家标准与技术研究院的Yu Liu及其研究团队取得一项新进展。经过不懈努力，他们实现热环境中单个分子离子的量子态跟踪与控制。相关研究成果已于2024年8月1日在国际权威学术期刊《科学》上发表。

该研究团队成功实现了对单个分子在不同状态（“跳跃”）之间热辐射驱动跃迁的实时观察。通过微波驱动的跃迁，研究人员实现了对这些“跳跃”的反转，使得分子在选定状态停留的时间延长了20倍。

在热环境中测量的跃迁速率展现出各向异性特征，这表明利用单分子作为环境场强度的原位探针具有可行性。该研究中的状态检测与操纵方法适用于广泛的分子组分，有望推动它们在量子科学、分子物理以及离子-中性化学等领域的应用。

据悉，理解分子状态演化是许多学科的核心，包括分子动力学、精密测量和基于分子的量子技术。当观察分子的统计系综时，演化的细节是模糊的。

附：英文原文

Title: Quantum state tracking and control of a single molecular ion in a thermal environment

Author: Yu Liu, Julian Schmidt, Zhimin Liu, David R. Leibrandt, Dietrich Leibfried, Chin-wen Chou

Issue&Volume: 2024-08-01

Abstract: Understanding molecular state evolution is central to many disciplines, including molecular dynamics, precision measurement, and molecule-based quantum technology. Details of the evolution are obscured when observing a statistical ensemble of molecules. Here, we report real-time observations of thermal radiation–driven transitions between individual states (“jumps”) of a single molecule. We reversed these “jumps” through microwave-driven transitions, resulting in a twentyfold improvement in the time the molecule dwells in a chosen state. The measured transition rates showed anisotropy in the thermal environment, pointing to the possibility of using single molecules as in-situ probes for the strengths of ambient fields. Our approaches for state detection and manipulation could apply to a wide range of species, facilitating their uses in fields including quantum science, molecular physics, and ion-neutral chemistry.

DOI: 10.1126/science.ado1001

Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ado1001