arXiv:1903.00603 · Physical Review A

Two-photon photoassociation spectroscopy of the Σ+2 YbLi molecular ground state

Alaina Green, Jun Hui See Toh, Richard Roy, Ming Li, Svetlana Kotochigova, Subhadeep Gupta

Published Jun 17, 2019• 16 citations

Abstract

We report on measurements of the binding energies of several weakly bound vibrational states of the paramagnetic $^{174}\mathrm{Yb}^{6}\mathrm{Li}$ molecule in the electronic ground state using two-photon spectroscopy in an ultracold atomic mixture confined in an optical dipole trap. We theoretically analyze the experimental spectrum to obtain an accurate description of the long-range potential of the ground-state molecule. Based on the measured binding energies, we arrive at an improved value of the interspecies $s$-wave scattering length ${a}_{s0}=30\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}{a}_{0}$. Employing coherent two-photon spectroscopy we also observe the creation of ``dark'' atom-molecule superposition states in the heteronuclear Yb-Li system. This paper is an important step towards the efficient production of ultracold YbLi molecules via association from an ultracold atomic mixture.

DOI: 10.1103/physreva.99.063416

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arXiv:1903.00603 · Physical Review A

Two-photon photoassociation spectroscopy of the Σ+2 YbLi molecular ground state

Alaina Green, Jun Hui See Toh, Richard Roy, Ming Li, Svetlana Kotochigova, Subhadeep Gupta

Published Jun 17, 2019• 16 citations

arXiv HTML PDF

Abstract

We report on measurements of the binding energies of several weakly bound vibrational states of the paramagnetic

^{174}\mathrm{Yb}^{6}\mathrm{Li}

molecule in the electronic ground state using two-photon spectroscopy in an ultracold atomic mixture confined in an optical dipole trap. We theoretically analyze the experimental spectrum to obtain an accurate description of the long-range potential of the ground-state molecule. Based on the measured binding energies, we arrive at an improved value of the interspecies

s

-wave scattering length

{a}_{s0}=30\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}{a}_{0}

. Employing coherent two-photon spectroscopy we also observe the creation of ``dark'' atom-molecule superposition states in the heteronuclear Yb-Li system. This paper is an important step towards the efficient production of ultracold YbLi molecules via association from an ultracold atomic mixture.

DOI: 10.1103/physreva.99.063416

Related papers

Two-photon photoassociation spectroscopy of CsYb: Ground-state interaction potential and interspecies scattering lengths

Alexander Guttridge, Matthew D. Frye, Bing Yang +2 more

We perform two-photon photoassociation spectroscopy of the heteronuclear CsYb molecule to measure the binding energies of near-threshold vibrational levels of the $X{\phantom{\rule{3.33333pt}{0ex}}}^{2}{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}}_{1/2}^{+}$ molecular ground state. We report results for $^{133}\mathrm{Cs}^{170}\mathrm{Yb}$ , $^{133}\mathrm{Cs}^{173}\mathrm{Yb}$ , and $^{133}\mathrm{Cs}^{174}\mathrm{Yb}$ , in each case determining the energy of several vibrational levels including the least-bound state. We fit an interaction potential based on electronic structure calculations to the binding energies for all three isotopologs and find that the ground-state potential supports 77 vibrational levels. We use the fitted potential to predict the interspecies $s$ -wave scattering lengths for all seven Cs+Yb isotopic mixtures.We perform two-photon photoassociation spectroscopy of the heteronuclear CsYb molecule to measure the binding energies of near-threshold vibrational levels of the $X{\phantom{\rule{3.33333pt}{0ex}}}^{2}{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}}_{1/2}^{+}$ molecular ground state. We report results for $^{133}\mathrm{Cs}^{170}\mathrm{Yb}$, $^{133}\mathrm{Cs}^{173}\mathrm{Yb}$, and $^{133}\mathrm{Cs}^{174}\mathrm{Yb}$, in each case determining the energy of several vibrational levels including the least-bound state. We fit an interaction potential based on electronic structure calculations to the binding energies for all three isotopologs and find that the ground-state potential supports 77 vibrational levels. We use the fitted potential to predict the interspecies $s$-wave scattering lengths for all seven Cs+Yb isotopic mixtures.

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arXiv:1606.03120Physical Review ASep 14, 201632 citations

Spectroscopy of ultracold LiRb molecules using ionization detection

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We present spectroscopic studies of ultracold LiRb molecules using ionization detection. The molecules are created by cooling and trapping Li and Rb atoms in overlapping magneto-optical traps (MOTs) and using light resonant with a free-bound transition to create weakly bound excited state molecules in a process known as photoassociation (PA). We explore weakly bound vibrational levels of LiRb with PA spectroscopy using ionization detection and, where possible, compare our results with earlier measurements performed in our lab using trap-loss spectroscopy. In addition, we also probe vibrational levels of the ground triplet electronic state and excited electronic states using resonantly enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) spectroscopy. We identify several vibrational levels of the α3Σ+, (3)3ΠΩ and (4)3Σ + states and compare our observations with theoretical calculations. As LiRb is one of the least studied heteronuclear diatomic molecules, these studies are aimed towards exploring the molecular structure. The spectroscopic work is also in line with the long-term project goals of transferring ultracold LiRb molecules into the lowest rotational and vibrational levels of the ground singlet electronic state. Molecules in this rovibronic ground state possess a large electric dipole moment, which is essential for application of ultracold molecules in various quantum computation schemes. The rovibronic ground state will also be an ideal starting point for investigating molecular entangled states.We present spectroscopic studies of ultracold LiRb molecules using ionization detection. The molecules are created by cooling and trapping Li and Rb atoms in overlapping magneto-optical traps (MOTs) and using light resonant with a free-bound transition to create weakly bound excited state molecules in a process known as photoassociation (PA). We explore weakly bound vibrational levels of LiRb with PA spectroscopy using ionization detection and, where possible, compare our results with earlier measurements performed in our lab using trap-loss spectroscopy. In addition, we also probe vibrational levels of the ground triplet electronic state and excited electronic states using resonantly enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) spectroscopy. We identify several vibrational levels of the α3Σ+, (3)3ΠΩ and (4)3Σ + states and compare our observations with theoretical calculations. As LiRb is one of the least studied heteronuclear diatomic molecules, these studies are aimed towards exploring the molecular structure. The spectroscopic work is also in line with the long-term project goals of transferring ultracold LiRb molecules into the lowest rotational and vibrational levels of the ground singlet electronic state. Molecules in this rovibronic ground state possess a large electric dipole moment, which is essential for application of ultracold molecules in various quantum computation schemes. The rovibronic ground state will also be an ideal starting point for investigating molecular entangled states.

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Measurements of the dipole moments of cesium Rydberg-ground molecules

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The ultralong-range Cs2 Rydberg molecules consisting of a Rydberg, nD5/2 ( principal quantum number n =35-38), and a ground state atom, 6S1/2 (F=4) are prepared by a two-photon photoassociation spectroscopy in an ultracold Cs gas. This kind of molecule is bound with the low energy scattering and has a permanent dipole moment. We observe two Rydberg-ground state molecular spectra, one is deep-bound molecule, TΣ state, bound by triplet s-wave scattering length and the other one is shallow-bound molecule, S,TΣ state, bound by mixed singlet-triplet s-wave scattering length. The binding energy of Rydberg-ground molecules are attained by analyzing the two photon photoassociation spectrum, corresponding permanent dipole moment is measured by applying an external electric field, which is compared to the calculation.The ultralong-range Cs2 Rydberg molecules consisting of a Rydberg, nD5/2 ( principal quantum number n =35-38), and a ground state atom, 6S1/2 (F=4) are prepared by a two-photon photoassociation spectroscopy in an ultracold Cs gas. This kind of molecule is bound with the low energy scattering and has a permanent dipole moment. We observe two Rydberg-ground state molecular spectra, one is deep-bound molecule, TΣ state, bound by triplet s-wave scattering length and the other one is shallow-bound molecule, S,TΣ state, bound by mixed singlet-triplet s-wave scattering length. The binding energy of Rydberg-ground molecules are attained by analyzing the two photon photoassociation spectrum, corresponding permanent dipole moment is measured by applying an external electric field, which is compared to the calculation.

Optical and Quantum Sensing and Precision Metrology IIFeb 25, 20200 citations

We report on measurements of the binding energies of several weakly bound vibrational states of the paramagnetic

^{174}\mathrm{Yb}^{6}\mathrm{Li}

s

-wave scattering length

{a}_{s0}=30\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}{a}_{0}

^{133}\mathrm{Cs}^{170}\mathrm{Yb}

^{133}\mathrm{Cs}^{173}\mathrm{Yb}

, and

^{133}\mathrm{Cs}^{174}\mathrm{Yb}

, in each case determining the energy of several vibrational levels including the least-bound state. We fit an interaction potential based on electronic structure calculations to the binding energies for all three isotopologs and find that the ground-state potential supports 77 vibrational levels. We use the fitted potential to predict the interspecies

s

-wave scattering lengths for all seven Cs+Yb isotopic mixtures.

We report the production of ultracold heteronuclear

{\mathrm{Cs}}^{*}\mathrm{Yb}

molecules through one-photon photoassociation applied to an ultracold atomic mixture of Cs and Yb confined in an optical dipole trap. We use trap-loss spectroscopy to detect molecular states below the

\mathrm{Cs}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}(^{2}P_{1/2})+\mathrm{Yb}(^{1}S_{0})

asymptote. For

^{133}\mathrm{Cs}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{174}\mathrm{Yb}

, we observe 13 rovibrational states with binding energies up to $\ensuremath{\sim}500\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{GHz}$. For each rovibrational state we observe two resonances associated with the Cs hyperfine structure and show that the hyperfine splitting in the diatomic molecule decreases for more deeply bound states. In addition, we produce ultracold fermionic

^{133}\mathrm{Cs}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{173}\mathrm{Yb}

and bosonic

^{133}\mathrm{Cs}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{172}\mathrm{Yb}

and

^{133}\mathrm{Cs}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{170}\mathrm{Yb}

molecules. From mass scaling, we determine the number of vibrational levels supported by the 2(1/2) excited-state potential to be 154 or 155.

250\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{GHz}

below the

\mathrm{Yb}(^{1}S_{0})+\mathrm{Li}(^{2}P_{1/2})

asymptote and observe isotopic PA line shifts in mixtures of

^{6}\mathrm{Li}

with

^{174}\mathrm{Yb}

^{172}\mathrm{Yb}

, and

^{176}\mathrm{Yb}

. We also describe our theoretical ab initio calculation for the relevant electronic potentials and utilize it to analyze and identify the lines in the experimentally observed spectrum.