Efficient formation of deeply bound ultracold molecules probed by broadband detection

Abstract

Using a non-selective broadband detection scheme we discovered an efficient mechanism of formation of ultracold Cs${}_2$ molecules in deeply bound levels ($v=1-9$) of their electronic ground state X${}^1{\Sigma }_g^{+}$. They are formed by a one-photon photoassociation of ultracold cesium atoms in a manifold of excited electronic states, followed by a two-step spontaneous emission cascade. We were able to form about $10^5-10^6$ molecules per second in these low vibrational levels of the ground state. This detection scheme could be generalized to other molecular species for the systematic investigation of cold molecule formation mechanisms.

4 pages

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Cited by in corpus (9)

• Production of rovibronic ground state RbCs molecules via two-photon cascade decay
• Identification of Deeply Bound Heteronuclear Molecules Using Pulsed Laser Depletion Spectroscopy
• Molecular vibrational cooling by Optical Pumping with shaped femtosecond pulses
• Optimal trapping wavelengths of Cs${}_2$ molecules in an optical lattice
• Photoassociation to the 2(1)Sigma(g)(+) state in ultracold 85Rb2 in the presence of a shape resonance
• Triplet-singlet conversion by broadband optical pumping
• Application of lasers to ultracold atoms and molecules
• Ultracold atom-dimer long-range interactions beyond the $1/R^n$ expansion
• Triplet-singlet conversion in ultracold Cs${}_2$ and production of ground state molecules