Sympathetic cooling of molecular ion motion to the ground state

Abstract

We demonstrate sympathetic sideband cooling of a $^{40}$CaH$^{+}$ molecular ion co-trapped with a $^{40}$Ca$^{+}$ atomic ion in a linear Paul trap. Both axial modes of the two-ion chain are simultaneously cooled to near the ground state of motion. The center of mass mode is cooled to an average quanta of harmonic motion $\overline{n}_{\mathrm{COM}} = 0.13 \pm 0.03$, corresponding to a temperature of $12.47 \pm 0.03 ~\mu$K. The breathing mode is cooled to $\overline{n}_{\mathrm{BM}} = 0.05 \pm 0.02$, corresponding to a temperature of $15.36 \pm 0.01~\mu$K.