Spectroscopy of the Double Minimum $3{}^3{\Pi }_{\Omega }$ Electronic State of ${}^{39}$K${}^{85}$Rb

Abstract

We report the observation and analysis of the $3{}^3{\Pi }_{\Omega }$ double-minimum electronic excited state of ${}^{39}$K${}^{85}$Rb. The spin-orbit components ($0^{+},0^{-},1$ and 2) of this state are investigated based on potentials developed from the available \emph{ab initio} potential curves. We have assigned the vibrational levels $v^{\prime }=2-11$ of the $3{}^3{\Pi }_{1,2}$ potentials and $v^{\prime }=2-12$ of the $3{}^3{\Pi }_{0^{+/-}}$ potential. We compare our experimental observations of the $3{}^3{\Pi }_{\Omega }$ state with predictions based on theoretical potentials. The observations are based on resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) of ultracold KRb in vibrational levels $v"=14-25$ of the $a{}^3{\Sigma }^{+}$ state. These \emph{a}-state ultracold molecules are formed by photoassociation of ultracold ${}^{39}$K and ${}^{85}$Rb atoms to the 5(1) state of KRb followed by spontaneous emission to the \emph{a} state.

23 pages, 12 Figures, Submitted to Journal of Chemical Physics, Supplementary Material available upon request

References in corpus (2)

• The coupling of the X${}^1{\Sigma }^{+}$ and a${}^3{\Sigma }^{+}$ states of KRb
• Direct Photoassociative Formation of Ultracold KRb Molecules in the Lowest Vibrational Levels of the Ground State

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Formation of ultracold ${}^7$Li${}^{85}$Rb molecules in the lowest triplet electronic state by photoassociation and their detection by ionization spectroscopy
• Short-range Photoassociation of LiRb
• Long-range interactions between rubidium and potassium Rydberg atoms
• The $d{}^3\Pi$ state of LiRb