Laser cooling scheme for the carbon dimer (C 12 2)

We report on a scheme for laser cooling of 12C2. We have calculated the branching ratios for cycling and repumping transitions and calculated the number of photon scatterings required to achieve deflection and laser cooling of a beam of C2 molecules under realistic experimental conditions. Our results demonstrate that C2 cooling using the Swan (d3Πg↔a3Πu) and so-called Duck (d3Πg↔c3ςu+) bands is achievable via techniques similar to state-of-the-art molecular cooling experiments. The Phillips (A1Πu↔X1ςg+) and Ballik-Ramsay (b3ςg-↔a3Πu) bands offer the potential for narrow-line cooling. This work opens up a path to cooling of molecules with carbon-carbon bonds and may pave the way toward quantum control of organic molecules.