PRODUCTION OF LONG-LIVED ULTRACOLD LI2 MOLECULES FROM A FERMI GAS
J. Cubizolles, Thomas Bourdel, S. J. J. M. F. Kokkelmans +2 more
We create weakly bound Li/sub 2/ molecules from a degenerate two component Fermi gas by sweeping a magnetic field across a Feshbach resonance. The atom-molecule transfer efficiency can reach 85% and is studied as a function of magnetic field and initial temperature. The bosonic molecules remain trapped for 0.5 s and their temperature is within a factor of 2 from the Bose-Einstein condensation temperature. A thermodynamical model reproduces qualitatively the experimental findings
Laser Spectroscopy•Feb 1, 2004•1 citation