Lifetime of molecule-atom mixtures near a Feshbach resonance in 40K

Abstract

We report a dramatic magnetic field dependence in the lifetime of trapped, ultracold diatomic molecules created through an s-wave Feshbach resonance in 40K. The molecule lifetime increases from less than 1 ms away from the Feshbach resonance to greater than 100 ms near resonance. We also have measured the trapped atom lifetime as a function of magnetic field near the Feshbach resonance; we find that the atom loss is more pronounced on the side of the resonance containing the molecular bound state.