@article { ISI:000306417600007, title = {Nonadiabatic Preparation of Spin Crystals with Ultracold Polar Molecules}, journal = {PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS}, volume = {109}, number = {3}, year = {2012}, month = {JUL 16}, pages = {035301}, abstract = {We study the growth dynamics of ordered structures of strongly interacting polar molecules in optical lattices. Using a dipole blockade of microwave excitations, we map the system onto an interacting spin-1/2 model possessing ground states with crystalline order, and describe a way to prepare these states by nonadiabatically driving the transitions between molecular rotational levels. The proposed technique bypasses the need to cross a phase transition and allows for the creation of ordered domains of considerably larger size compared to approaches relying on adiabatic preparation.}, issn = {0031-9007}, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.035301}, author = {Lemeshko, Mikhail and Krems, Roman V. and Weimer, Hendrik} }