Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:cond-mat/0607581 · Physical Review Letters

Ultracold Heteronuclear Molecules in a 3D Optical Lattice

C. Ospelkaus, Silke Ospelkaus, Leif Humbert, Philipp T. Ernst, K. Sengstock, Kai Bongs

Published Sep 18, 2006• 328 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We report on the creation of ultracold heteronuclear molecules assembled from fermionic 40K and bosonic 87Rb atoms in a 3D optical lattice. Molecules are produced at a heteronuclear Feshbach resonance on both the attractive and the repulsive sides of the resonance. We precisely determine the binding energy of the heteronuclear molecules from rf spectroscopy across the Feshbach resonance. We characterize the lifetime of the molecular sample as a function of magnetic field and measure lifetimes between 20 and 120 ms. The efficiency of molecule creation via rf association is measured and is found to decrease as expected for more deeply bound molecules.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.97.120402

Related papers

Heteronuclear molecules in an optical dipole trap

J. J. Zirbel, Kang-Kuen Ni, Silke Ospelkaus +6 more

We report on the creation and characterization of heteronuclear $^{40}\text{K}^{87}\text{R}\text{b}$ Feshbach molecules in an optical dipole trap. Starting from an ultracold gas mixture of $^{40}\text{K}$ and $^{87}\text{R}\text{b}$ atoms, we create as many as 25 000 molecules at 300 nK by rf association. Optimizing the association process, we achieve a conversion efficiency of 25%. We measure the temperature dependence of the rf association process and find good agreement with a phenomenological model that has previously been applied to Feshbach molecule creation by slow magnetic-field sweeps. We also present a measurement of the binding energy of the heteronuclear molecules in the vicinity of the Feshbach resonance and provide evidence for Feshbach molecules as deeply bound as 26 MHz.

arXiv:0712.3889•Physical Review A•Jul 23, 2008•120 citations

Heteronuclear quantum gas mixtures

C. Ospelkaus, S Ospelkaus

This PhD tutorial article is a review of our experiments on heteronuclear quantum gas mixtures at the University of Hamburg. We introduce basic properties of trapped Fermi-Bose mixtures and demonstrate the achievement of large quantum degenerate mixtures of 40K and 87Rb. Using heteronuclear Feshbach resonances, we show how the heteronuclear interaction can be tuned, allowing us to induce phase separation and collapse for large repulsive and attractive interactions, respectively. We realize Fermi-Bose mixtures in 3D optical lattices as a novel quantum many-body system and study coherence properties of the mixture. Combining our experiments on lattices and Feshbach resonances, we present the first realization of ultracold heteronuclear Feshbach molecules. The molecules are created at individual sites of a 3D optical lattice. We discuss lifetime, binding energy and rf association efficiency in terms of a universal model and give an outlook for possible future developments.

arXiv:0808.4147•Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics•Oct 1, 2008•9 citations

Ultracold Heteronuclear Fermi-Fermi Molecules

A.-C. Voigt, M. Taglieber, L. Costa +4 more

We report on the first creation of ultracold bosonic heteronuclear molecules of two fermionic species, 6Li and 40K, by a magnetic field sweep across an interspecies s-wave Feshbach resonance. This allows us to associate up to 4x10(4) molecules with high efficiencies of up to 50%. Using direct imaging of the molecules, we measure increased lifetimes of the molecules close to resonance of more than 100 ms in the molecule-atom mixture stored in a harmonic trap.

arXiv:0810.1306•Physical Review Letters•Jan 15, 2009•172 citations

Ultracold Heteronuclear Molecules created from Quantum Gases

C. Ospelkaus, Silke Ospelkaus, Leif Humbert +6 more

This work discusses the first creation of long-lived heteronuclear molecules made from fermionic40K and bosonic87Rb atoms. A suppression of collisions is achieved by the creation and storage of individual molecules in separate wells of an optical lattice. In particular, a quantum degenerate Fermi-Bose mixture in a 3D optical lattice is obtained, the magnetic field close to an interspecies Feshbach resonance is tuned, and the rf association of the atoms is performed.

Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe & European Quantum Electronics Conference (CLEO/Europe-EQEC)•Jun 1, 2007•0 citations

Creation of ultracold heteronuclear p-wave Feshbach molecules

Fan Jia, Zhichao Guo, Zerong Huang +1 more

We report the first creation of a bulk sample of ultracold heteronuclear p-wave Feshbach molecules in an optically trapped Bose-Bose mixture of 23Na and 87Rb atoms. Using loss spectroscopy and binding energy measurements, we systematically characterize the interspecies p-wave Feshbach resonances near 284 G. Leveraging this understanding, we use magneto-association to form p-wave NaRb Feshbach molecules, producing both pure samples and mixtures of molecules in different p-wave orbitals. We further measure the molecular lifetime and identify atom-molecule and molecule-molecule collisions as the dominant loss mechanisms. This work establishes a previously unavailable ultracold molecule platform that combines orbital anisotropy with heteronuclear constituents, represents a significant step toward realizing tunable p-wave interactions in Bose-Bose mixtures, and provides a foundation for exploring non-zero angular momentum molecules.

arXiv:2601.12858•Jan 19, 2026•0 citations

Creation of Ultracold Heteronuclear p -Wave Feshbach Molecules

Anonymous, Zhichao Guo, Zerong Huang +1 more

We report the first creation of a bulk sample of ultracold heteronuclear p-wave Feshbach molecules in an optically trapped Bose-Bose mixture of ^{23}Na and ^{87}Rb atoms. Using loss spectroscopy and binding energy measurements, we systematically characterize the interspecies p-wave Feshbach resonances near 284 G. Leveraging this understanding, we use magnetoassociation to form p-wave NaRb Feshbach molecules, producing both pure samples and mixtures of molecules in different p-wave orbitals. We further measure the molecular lifetime and identify atom-molecule and molecule-molecule collisions as the dominant loss mechanisms. This Letter establishes a previously unavailable ultracold molecule platform that combines orbital anisotropy with heteronuclear constituents, represents a significant step toward realizing tunable p-wave interactions in Bose-Bose mixtures, and provides a foundation for exploring nonzero angular momentum molecules.

Physical Review Letters•Jul 24, 2026•0 citations
We report on the creation of ultracold heteronuclear molecules assembled from fermionic 40K and bosonic 87Rb atoms in a 3D optical lattice. Molecules are produced at a heteronuclear Feshbach resonance on both the attractive and the repulsive sides of the resonance. We precisely determine the binding energy of the heteronuclear molecules from rf spectroscopy across the Feshbach resonance. We characterize the lifetime of the molecular sample as a function of magnetic field and measure lifetimes between 20 and 120 ms. The efficiency of molecule creation via rf association is measured and is found to decrease as expected for more deeply bound molecules.
We report on the creation and characterization of heteronuclear 40K87Rb^{40}\text{K}^{87}\text{R}\text{b}40K87Rb Feshbach molecules in an optical dipole trap. Starting from an ultracold gas mixture of 40K^{40}\text{K}40K and 87Rb^{87}\text{R}\text{b}87Rb atoms, we create as many as 25 000 molecules at 300 nK by rf association. Optimizing the association process, we achieve a conversion efficiency of 25%. We measure the temperature dependence of the rf association process and find good agreement with a phenomenological model that has previously been applied to Feshbach molecule creation by slow magnetic-field sweeps. We also present a measurement of the binding energy of the heteronuclear molecules in the vicinity of the Feshbach resonance and provide evidence for Feshbach molecules as deeply bound as 26 MHz.
This PhD tutorial article is a review of our experiments on heteronuclear quantum gas mixtures at the University of Hamburg. We introduce basic properties of trapped Fermi-Bose mixtures and demonstrate the achievement of large quantum degenerate mixtures of 40K and 87Rb. Using heteronuclear Feshbach resonances, we show how the heteronuclear interaction can be tuned, allowing us to induce phase separation and collapse for large repulsive and attractive interactions, respectively. We realize Fermi-Bose mixtures in 3D optical lattices as a novel quantum many-body system and study coherence properties of the mixture. Combining our experiments on lattices and Feshbach resonances, we present the first realization of ultracold heteronuclear Feshbach molecules. The molecules are created at individual sites of a 3D optical lattice. We discuss lifetime, binding energy and rf association efficiency in terms of a universal model and give an outlook for possible future developments.
We report the first creation of a bulk sample of ultracold heteronuclear p-wave Feshbach molecules in an optically trapped Bose-Bose mixture of 23Na and 87Rb atoms. Using loss spectroscopy and binding energy measurements, we systematically characterize the interspecies p-wave Feshbach resonances near 284 G. Leveraging this understanding, we use magneto-association to form p-wave NaRb Feshbach molecules, producing both pure samples and mixtures of molecules in different p-wave orbitals. We further measure the molecular lifetime and identify atom-molecule and molecule-molecule collisions as the dominant loss mechanisms. This work establishes a previously unavailable ultracold molecule platform that combines orbital anisotropy with heteronuclear constituents, represents a significant step toward realizing tunable p-wave interactions in Bose-Bose mixtures, and provides a foundation for exploring non-zero angular momentum molecules.
We report the first creation of a bulk sample of ultracold heteronuclear p-wave Feshbach molecules in an optically trapped Bose-Bose mixture of ^{23}Na and ^{87}Rb atoms. Using loss spectroscopy and binding energy measurements, we systematically characterize the interspecies p-wave Feshbach resonances near 284 G. Leveraging this understanding, we use magnetoassociation to form p-wave NaRb Feshbach molecules, producing both pure samples and mixtures of molecules in different p-wave orbitals. We further measure the molecular lifetime and identify atom-molecule and molecule-molecule collisions as the dominant loss mechanisms. This Letter establishes a previously unavailable ultracold molecule platform that combines orbital anisotropy with heteronuclear constituents, represents a significant step toward realizing tunable p-wave interactions in Bose-Bose mixtures, and provides a foundation for exploring nonzero angular momentum molecules.