Bulletin of the American Physical Society
46th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics
Volume 60, Number 7
Monday–Friday, June 8–12, 2015; Columbus, Ohio
Session B3: Photoassociation and Cold Polar Molecules |
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Chair: Hans Peter Büchler, University of Stuttgart Room: Franklin AB |
Tuesday, June 9, 2015 10:30AM - 10:42AM |
B3.00001: Towards ultracold ground-state NaRb molecule Mingyang Guo, Bing Zhu, Xiaoke Li, Bo Lu, Fudong Wang, Xin Ye, Dajun Wang The ground-state $^{23}$Na$^{87}$Rb molecule is chemically stable and has a permanent electric dipole moment as large as 3.3 Debye. These properties make it a promising candidate for investigating dipolar quantum gases. Recently, we have realized weakly bound $^{23}$Na$^{87}$Rb Feshbach molecules via magneto-association. Here, we will present our results on excited-state molecular spectroscopy investigation starting with these Feshbach molecules. The prospects of transferring $^{23}$Na$^{87}$Rb to the absolute ground state will also be discussed. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, June 9, 2015 10:42AM - 10:54AM |
B3.00002: Triplet state photoassociation of LiNa Timur Rvachov, Alan Jamison, Li Jing, Yijun Jiang, Martin Zwierlein, Wolfgang Ketterle Ultracold molecules have promise to become a useful tool for studies in quantum simulation and ultracold chemistry. We aim to produce ultracold fermionic $^{6}$Li$^{23}$Na molecules in the triplet ground state. Due to the small mass, small spin-orbit coupling, and fermionic character of LiNa, the triplet ground state is expected to be long lived. We report on photoassociation spectra of LiNa to its triplet excited states from an ultracold mixture. This is the first observation of these excited triplet potentials, which have been previously difficult to observe in heat-pipe experiments due to the small spin-orbit coupling in the system. Determining the excited state potentials is a key milestone towards forming triplet ground state LiNa via two-photon STIRAP. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, June 9, 2015 10:54AM - 11:06AM |
B3.00003: Formation of LiYb Molecules by Photoassocation Richard Roy, Rajendra Shrestha, Alaina Green, Subhadeep Gupta Combining ultracold alkali and alkaline-earth (or earth-like) gases to form ground state doublet sigma molecules offers a paramagnetic degree of freedom, which is attractive for quantum information and simulation applications and studies of controlled chemical reactions. However, the spinless ground electronic state of alkaline-earth atoms renders magnetoassociation techniques infeasible. Instead, coherent Raman techniques may be used to couple free atoms in an ultracold mixture to rovibrational states in the ground electronic manifold. To this end, we perform photoassociation (PA) spectroscopy of $^6$Li and multiple Yb isotopes in a dual-species MOT on the Li D line (671 nm) and resolve multiple features in the exited electronic YbLi* potentials. We plan to utilize these excited molecular states to perform 2-photon PA spectroscopy of the ground doublet sigma potential. Subsequently, the states with the most favorable Franck-Condon overlap will be targeted for coherent production of ground state molecules in a 3 dimensional optical lattice. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, June 9, 2015 11:06AM - 11:18AM |
B3.00004: Spin-orbital dynamics in a system of polar molecules Sergey Syzranov, Michael Wall, Victor Gurarie, Ana Maria Rey We consider the dynamics of a two-dimensional system of ultracold polar molecules weakly perturbed from a stationary state. We demonstrate that dipole-dipole interactions in such a system generate chiral excitations with a non-trivial Berry phase $2\pi$. These excitations, which we call \emph{chirons}, resemble low-energy quasiparticles in bilayer graphene and emerge regardless of the quantum statistics and for arbitrary ratios of kinetic to interaction energies. Chirons manifest themselves in the dynamics of the spin density profile, spin currents, and spin coherences, even for molecules pinned in a deep optical lattice. We derive the kinetic equation that describes chiron dynamics and calculate the distributions of physical observables for experimentally realisable initial conditions. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, June 9, 2015 11:18AM - 11:30AM |
B3.00005: RbCs molecules co-trapped with Rb and Cs atoms Michael Bellos, Toshihiko Shimasaki, David DeMille We present studies of the formation and collisions of RbCs molecules in an optical trap. We produce trapped RbCs molecules in a variety of states, including their rovibronic ground state $X^1\Sigma^+(v=0,J=0)$, via short-range photoassociation.\footnote{T. Shimasaki, \emph{et al.}, Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. A (R) (2015) arXiv:1407.7512} We then monitor loss rates of individual molecular states when co-trapped with Rb or Cs atoms. RbCs molecules in the $X^1\Sigma^+(v=0,J=0)$ state are energetically forbidden to chemically react with each other or with Cs atoms. One specific goal of our work is to test proposals for``scrubbing'' molecular excited states from the trapped sample via inelastic collisions with atoms. We will present data relevant to this proposal and to other ultracold atom-molecule collisional interactions. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, June 9, 2015 11:30AM - 11:42AM |
B3.00006: Feshbach to ultracold molecular state Raman transitions in a seven-level system using optical frequency combs Gengyuan Liu, Svetlana Malinovskaya A method for creation of molecules in the ultracold state from the Feshbach molecules by stepwise adiabatic passage using an optical frequency comb is investigated in the framework of a semiclassical seven-level system. Sinusoidal modulation across an individual pulse in the pulse train is applied that leads to a creation of a quasi-dark state minimizing population of the transitional, vibrational state manifold and efficiently mitigating decoherence in the system. The parity of the temporal chirp shown to be an important factor in designing population dynamics in the system. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, June 9, 2015 11:42AM - 11:54AM |
B3.00007: Creation of Ultracold Dipolar Ground State Molecules of $^{23}$Na$^{40}$K Sebastian Will, Jee Woo Park, Jennifer Schloss, Zoe Yan, Huanqian Loh, Martin Zwierlein Over the past decade ultracold atomic quantum gases have successfully been employed as quantum simulators to gain a better understanding of strongly correlated many-body systems. However, the dominant interactions between atoms are typically short-range in character, limiting the spectrum of quantum phenomena to be explored. Quantum particles with long-range dipolar interactions will open new routes for quantum simulation and promise the creation of novel states of matter, such as quantum crystals, topological superfluids and supersolids. Ultracold heteronuclear molecules offer a unique path to realize a strongly dipolar quantum gas. Among several choices, NaK stands out as an exceptional molecule due to its chemical stability and a large electric dipole moment in its absolute ground state. We report on recent progress that led us to the creation of the first ultracold, strongly dipolar molecules of NaK. Using a two-photon STIRAP process we have efficiently transferred NaK from the Feshbach state to the rovibrational ground state. By applying an external electric field, we have aligned the molecular dipoles, inducing long-range dipolar interactions. These advances bring the creation of novel states of matter in a strongly dipolar quantum gas of NaK into experimental reach. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, June 9, 2015 11:54AM - 12:06PM |
B3.00008: Two-Photon Pathway to Ultracold Fermionic Ground State Molecules of NaK Jee Woo Park, Jennifer Schloss, Zoe Yan, Huanqian Loh, Sebastian Will, Martin Zwierlein Interactions beyond the simple contact interaction open up a new paradigm in the field of ultracold quantum gases. Fermionic ground state molecules with strong dipolar interactions serve as an ideal system to explore the rich physics of dipolar quantum gases with intriguing phenomena such as supersolidity and emergence of topological phases. Fermionic $^{23}$Na$^{40}$K molecules are particularly well suited for this purpose. In their absolute ground state, these molecules are chemically stable and posses a large electric dipole moment of 2.72 Debye. In this talk, we report on a two-photon pathway to transfer loosely bound $^{23}$Na$^{40}$K Feshbach molecules to the absolute ground state. We conducted high-resolution one- and two-photon spectroscopy of ultracold $^{23}$Na$^{40}$K Feshbach molecules, and identified a pathway to the rovibrational singlet ground state via a resonantly mixed $B^{1}\Pi$$\sim$$c^{3}\Sigma^{+}$ intermediate state. This pathway is used in our experiment to transfer loosely bound Feshbach molecules to the absolute ground state with high efficiency. Our work thus paves the way towards the creation of a strongly dipolar Fermi gas of chemically stable molecules. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, June 9, 2015 12:06PM - 12:18PM |
B3.00009: Increasing the filling of ultracold KRb molecules in a 3D optical lattice Steven Moses, Jacob Covey, Bryce Gadway, Bo Yan, Matthew Miecnikowski, Jun Ye, Deborah Jin Ultracold polar molecules, with their long-range electric dipolar interactions, offer new opportunities for studying quantum magnetism and many-body physics. Recently, our group observed spin exchange interactions between KRb molecules in a 3D optical lattice (Yan \textit{et al.}, Nature \textbf{501}, 521-525 (2013)), which is one of the first steps towards studying lattice spin models with polar molecules. The lattice fillings were about 10\% or less in these experiments. Future experiments will benefit greatly from lower entropies and higher lattice fillings. Here, we have investigated the molecular creation process in a 3D optical lattice with the goal of maximizing the filling fraction. We start by loading a BEC of Rb and a degenerate Fermi gas of K into a 3D optical lattice. In the absence of K, Rb is a Mott insulator. We study how the Mott insulator and the filling of Rb are affected by the presence of K and develop a strategy to maintain high Rb filling throughout the molecule production process. We also find that we can convert a large fraction of these Rb to molecules when we operate with low Rb numbers. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, June 9, 2015 12:18PM - 12:30PM |
B3.00010: Collisional losses and dipolar interactions in lattice gases of cold polar molecules Martin Gaerttner, Ana Maria Rey Recent experimental progress has enabled the observation of dipolar spin exchange interactions between ultracold KRb molecules in different rotational states trapped in a deep optical lattice [1]. In the same experiment, for molecules confined to one dimensional tubes, it was found that losses caused by inelastic collisions are suppressed due to the quantum Zeno effect [2]. Here, we study situations in which the interplay between both, dipolar interactions and losses due to reactive collisions, leads to interesting new phenomena. The observation of the loss dynamics reveals information about system properties, such as the density of molecules in the lattice. Moreover, the dissipative preparation of useful entangled states of molecules can be achieved.\\[4pt] [1] B. Yan et al., Nature 501, 521-525 (2013).\newline [2] B. Zhu et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 070404 (2014). [Preview Abstract] |
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