All-optical scheme for strongly enhanced production of a Bose-Einstein condensate of dipolar molecules in the vibronic ground state
- Department of Physics, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122 (United States)
We consider two-color heteronuclear photoassociation of a dual-species Bose-Einstein condensate into a Bose-Einstein condensate of dipolar molecules in the J=1 vibronic ground state, where a free-ground laser couples atoms directly to the ground state and a free-bound laser couples the atoms to an electronically excited state. This problem raises an interest because heteronuclear photoassociation from atoms to near-ground-state molecules is limited by the small size of the target state. Nevertheless, the addition of the electronically excited state creates a second pathway for creating molecules in the vibronic ground state, leading to quantum interference between direct photoassociation and photoassociation via the excited molecular state, as well as a dispersivelike shift of the free-ground resonance position. Using LiNa as an example, these results are shown to depend on the detuning and intensity of the free-bound laser, as well as the semiclassical size of both molecular states. Whereas strong enhancement enables saturation of the free-ground transition, coherent conversion from a two-species condensate of atoms to a condensate of dipolar molecules in the vibronic ground state is only possible for a limited range of free-bound detunings near resonance.
- OSTI ID:
- 21408684
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. A, Vol. 81, Issue 4; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.81.043627; (c) 2010 The American Physical Society; ISSN 1050-2947
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Creating a quantum degenerate gas of stable molecules via weak photoassociation
Cold binary atomic collisions in a light field