Abstract
We demonstrate the direct formation of vibronic ground state RbCs molecules by photoassociation of ultracold atoms followed by radiative stabilization. The photoassociation proceeds through deeply bound levels of the (2)3Π0+ state. From analysis of the relevant free-to-bound and bound-to-bound Franck–Condon factors, we have predicted and experimentally verified a set of photoassociation resonances that lead to efficient creation of molecules in the v = 0 vibrational level of the X1Σ+ electronic ground state. We also compare the observed and calculated laser intensity required to saturate the photoassociation rate. We discuss the prospects for using short-range photoassociation to create and accumulate samples of ultracold polar molecules in their rovibronic ground state.
Highlights
Rapid advances in the field of ultracold molecular physics have motivated the development of new methods to create large trapped samples of polar molecules [1, 2]
We predicted that the (2)3Π0+ (v′=10) level (PA energy=11817.16 cm−1) has the large free-to-bound and bound-to-bound Franck-Condon factors (FCFs) necessary to efficiently create X1Σ+(v=0) state molecules
We argue that it should be possible to exploit the rapid inelastic collisions of RbCs∗ with Cs to selectively remove the unwanted molecules while retaining the rovibronic ground state molecules, as suggested in Ref. [6]
Summary
Rapid advances in the field of ultracold molecular physics have motivated the development of new methods to create large trapped samples of polar molecules [1, 2]. From the product of the two FCFs, shown, we predicted X1Σ+(v=0) formation rates through numerous vibrational levels of the (2)3Π0+ state Based on these results, we predicted that the (2)3Π0+ (v′=10) level (PA energy=11817.16 cm−1) has the large free-to-bound and bound-to-bound FCFs necessary to efficiently create X1Σ+(v=0) state molecules. We predicted that the (2)3Π0+ (v′=10) level (PA energy=11817.16 cm−1) has the large free-to-bound and bound-to-bound FCFs necessary to efficiently create X1Σ+(v=0) state molecules This analysis assumes no enhancement of the PA rate due to resonant coupling in the excited PA state and should be widely applicable to other levels and molecules
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