Photoassociation spectrum of ultracold Rb atoms

Abstract

We study the photoassociative collisional loss of laser-cooled Rb atoms from a far-off resonance optical dipole force atom trap. We obtain a well-resolved photoassociation spectrum from 50 cm -1 to 980 cm -1 below the first excited dissociation limit of the Rb2 molecule. Two vibrational series associated with excited Rb2 3 X/ states are clearly visible. Oscillations in the associated Franck-Condon factors reflect the structure of the triplet ground state wave function. Our results clearly demonstrate the potential of photoassociation spectroscopy as a new probe of molecular structure.

Dynamics of two atoms undergoing light-assisted collisions in an optical microtrap

“…The advantage of such a system is that the atoms are isolated from their surroundings and basic physical effects in photochemistry can be studied without interference from processes induced by the environment. Recently this has led to controlled formation of ultra-cold molecular gases [1,2] and in the past, photo-association spectroscopy has provided detailed knowledge about atom-atom interaction potentials [3,4].Typically, experiments on photo-association or lightassisted collisions of cold atoms are conducted on large samples. Studying microscopic processes at the individual event level reveals information hidden in ensemble averages of larger samples [5,6].…”

“…The advantage of such a system is that the atoms are isolated from their surroundings and basic physical effects in photochemistry can be studied without interference from processes induced by the environment. Recently this has led to controlled formation of ultra-cold molecular gases [1,2] and in the past, photo-association spectroscopy has provided detailed knowledge about atom-atom interaction potentials [3,4].…”

Highly excited bound-state resonances of short-range inverse power-law potentials

“…In particular, long-range power-law potentials play a key role in theoretical models describing the physical interactions of atoms and molecules (see [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] and the references therein).…”

Hyperfine structure in photoassociative spectra ofLi26andAbraham1, McAlexander2, Stoof3 et al. 1996Phys. Rev. A300500View full textAdd to dashboardCite

“…The b ␤S coupling scheme has been identified in spectra of the 1 3 ⌬ g state of 7 Li 2 ͓14͔ and the 2 3 ⌺ g ϩ , 3 3 ⌺ g ϩ , and Exchange symmetry requires that the eigenstates be symmetric or antisymmetric upon exchange of the identical nuclei, for nuclei of integer or half-integer spin, respectively. For 1 3 ⌺ g ϩ states the ͑odd͒ even N levels are ͑anti͒symmetric and for A 1 ⌺ u ϩ states the ͑even͒ odd N levels are ͑anti͒sym-metric upon exchange of nuclei ͓16͔.…”

“…The atomic hyperfine interaction energies are given by E 1 ϭϪ 5 4 a 2s (7) and E 2 ϭ 3 4 a 2s (7) for 7 Li and E 1/2 ϭϪa 2s (6) and E 3/2 ϭ 1 2 a 2s (6) for 6 Li, where a 2s (7) and a 2s (6) are the 2s 1/2 atomic hyperfine constants for 7 Li and 6 Li, respectively. The energies are relative to the ''center of gravity'' of the 2s 1/2 ground state, which would be the energy of the 2s 1/2 state in the absence of hyperfine interactions.…”