Atom-molecule dark states in a Bose-Einstein condensate
arXiv:cond-mat/0505732 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.063202
Abstract
We have created a dark quantum superposition state of a Rb Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) and a degenerate gas of Rb ground state molecules in a specific ro-vibrational state using two-color photoassociation. As a signature for the decoupling of this coherent atom-molecule gas from the light field we observe a striking suppression of photoassociation loss. In our experiment the maximal molecule population in the dark state is limited to about 100 Rb molecules due to laser induced decay. The experimental findings can be well described by a simple three mode model.
4 pages, 6 figures