Role of interspecies interactions in the preparation of a low-entropy gas of polar molecules in a lattice

Abstract

The preparation of a quantum degenerate gas of heteronuclear molecules has been an outstanding challenge. We use path integral Quantum Monte Carlo simulations to understand the role of interactions and finite temperature effects in the protocol currently employed to adiabatically prepare a low-entropy gas of polar molecules in a lattice starting from an ultracold Bose-Fermi mixture. We find that interspecies interactions affect the final temperature of the mixture after the adiabatic loading procedure and detrimentally limit the molecular peak filling. Our conclusions are in agreement with recent experimental measurements [1] and therefore are of immediate relevance for the myriad experiments that aim to form molecules from dual-species atomic gases.