Polyatomic Candidates for Cooling of Molecules with Lasers from Simple Theoretical Concepts

A rational approach to identify polyatomic molecules that appear to be promising candidates for direct Doppler cooling with lasers is outlined. First-principles calculations for equilibrium structures and Franck-Condon factors of selected representatives with different point-group symmetries (including the chiral nonsymmetric C-1) have been performed and a high potential for laser cooling of these molecules is indicated.