Abstract
We study the evolution of a cold single BaRb+ molecule while it continuously collides with ultracold Rb atoms. The initially weakly bound molecule can undergo a sequence of elastic, inelastic, reactive, and radiative processes. We investigate these processes by developing methods for discriminating between different ion species, electronic states, and kinetic ion energy ranges. By analyzing the experimental data while taking into account theoretical insights, we obtain a consistent description of the typical trajectory through the manifold of available atomic and molecular states. Monte Carlo simulations describe the measured dynamics well. As a further result, we determine rates for collisional and radiative relaxation as well as photodissociation, spin-flip collisions, and chemical reactions.10 MoreReceived 20 May 2020Revised 18 September 2020Accepted 2 February 2021DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.013196Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.Published by the American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasAtomic & molecular collisionsAtomic & molecular processes in external fieldsChemical reactionsCold and ultracold moleculesHybrid quantum systemsInteratomic & molecular potentialsLong-range interactionsPhotodissociationSpontaneous emissionUltracold collisionsPhysical SystemsAtomic gasesMoleculesTrapped ionsUltracold gasesTechniquesAtom & ion coolingAtom & ion trapping & guidingOptical lattices & trapsQuantum chemistry methodsAtomic, Molecular & Optical
Highlights
In recent years, methods have been developed to produce ultracold molecules from ultracold atoms, e.g., by photoassociation [1,2,3], sweeping over a Feshbach resonance [4,5], radiative association in a two-body collision (e.g., Refs. [6,7]), or three-body recombination [8,9,10,11,12]
We have studied the evolution of a BaRb+ molecule in a gas of ultracold Rb atoms
In order to experimentally probe the state of the molecular ion we have developed novel methods which are based on the coordinated concatenation of mass spectrometry, controlled photodissociation, timing of atom-ion interaction, laser cooling, and fluorescence imaging
Summary
Methods have been developed to produce ultracold molecules from ultracold atoms, e.g., by photoassociation [1,2,3], sweeping over a Feshbach resonance [4,5], radiative association in a two-body collision (e.g., Refs. [6,7]), or three-body recombination [8,9,10,11,12]. The young field of cold hybrid-atom-ion systems has shown tremendous progress studying inelastic collisions and reactions. This includes charge exchange between atoms and atomic ions [21,22,23,24,25,26,27] and spin flips [28,29]. Instead we study the progression and interplay of the elastic, inelastic, and reactive processes which take place We investigate, both experimentally and theoretically, the evolution of a cold, weakly bound BaRb+ molecular ion as it continuously collides with ultracold Rb atoms. These collisions can be elastic, inelastic, or reactive. D to F of the Appendix we give additional information on the theoretical models, calculations, and Monte Carlo (MC) simulations
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