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Physics

From atoms to molecules (and back)

Simon L. Cornish

Published Sep 25, 2008• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Atoms colliding in a magnetic field can form weakly bound states called Feshbach molecules. These states have now been used in combination with advanced laser techniques to create tightly bound ground-state molecules close to quantum degeneracy.
DOI
10.1103/physics.1.24

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We examine dark quantum superposition states of weakly bound Rb2 Feshbach molecules and tightly bound triplet Rb2 molecules in the rovibrational ground state, created by subjecting a pure sample of Feshbach molecules in an optical lattice to a bichromatic Raman laser field. We analyze, both experimentally and theoretically, the creation and dynamics of these dark states. Coherent wavepacket oscillations of deeply bound molecules in lattice sites, as previously observed by Lang et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett., 2008, 101, 133005), are suppressed due to laser-induced phase locking of molecular levels. This can be understood as the appearance of a novel multilevel dark state. In addition, the experimental methods developed help to determine important properties of our coupled atom/ laser system.

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This thesis presents experiments exploring Feshbach molecules and Efimov trimers in an ultracold Bose-Fermi atomic gas mixture of 40K and 87Rb. These bound states are accessed via scattering resonances, called Fano-Feshbach resonances, which arise as a consequence of a bound state being tuned through degeneracy with the threshold energy of colliding atoms. In addition to allowing the tunability of interactions, the Fano-Feshbach resonance allows for a weakly bound molecule state, called the Feshbach molecule state, to be populated. The efficiency of conversion to the Feshbach molecule state depends upon the rate with which the bound state energy is swept through degeneracy with atomic threshold energy. In regions of large scattering lengths, three-body bound states, called Efimov states, also influence inelastic Bose-Bose-Fermi collisions and boson+molecule collisions in our system. The work presented in this thesis utilizes a magnetically tunable Fano-Feshbach resonance to study Feshbach molecule creation in the perturbative limit (the limit of fast magnetic-field sweeps) and the saturated limit (the limit of slow sweeps), where a phenomenological model is applied to understand the conversion efficiency as well as the quantum degeneracy of the molecules. In addition, I present a study of boson+molecule collision rates and Bose-Bose-Fermi collision rates in order to observe signatures of Efimov states and compare against results in the gas mixture 41K-87Rb to address the question of universality of the three-body parameter in heteronuclear gas mixtures.
We examine dark quantum superposition states of weakly bound Rb2 Feshbach molecules and tightly bound triplet Rb2 molecules in the rovibrational ground state, created by subjecting a pure sample of Feshbach molecules in an optical lattice to a bichromatic Raman laser field. We analyze, both experimentally and theoretically, the creation and dynamics of these dark states. Coherent wavepacket oscillations of deeply bound molecules in lattice sites, as previously observed by Lang et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett., 2008, 101, 133005), are suppressed due to laser-induced phase locking of molecular levels. This can be understood as the appearance of a novel multilevel dark state. In addition, the experimental methods developed help to determine important properties of our coupled atom/ laser system.