Shielding $^2\Sigma$ ultracold dipolar molecular collisions with electric fields

Understand

The prospects for shielding ultracold, paramagnetic, dipolar molecules from inelastic and chemical collisions are investigated.

• Molecules placed in their first rotationally excited states are found to exhibit effective long-range repulsion for applied electric fields above a certain critical value, as previously shown for non-paramagnetic molecules.
• This repulsion can safely allow the molecules to scatter while reducing the risk of inelastic or chemically reactive collisions.
• Several molecular species of $^2\Sigma$ molecules of experimental interest -- RbSr, SrF, BaF, and YO -- are considered, and all are shown to exhibit orders of magnitude suppression in quenching rates in a sufficiently strong laboratory electric field.