Molecule formation in ultracold atomic gases

Abstract

This review describes recent experimental and theoretical advances in forming molecules in ultracold gases of trapped alkali metal atoms, both by magnetic tuning through Feshbach resonances and by photoassociation. Molecular Bose-Einstein condensation of long-range states of both boson dimers and fermion dimers was achieved in 2002-3. Condensates of boson dimers were found to be short-lived, but long-lived condensates of fermion dimers have been produced. Signatures of triatomic and tetraatomic molecules have recently been observed. Both homonuclear and heteronuclear molecules have been formed by photoassociation, mostly in very high vibrational levels. Recent attempts to produce ultracold molecules in short-range states (low vibrational levels) are described. Experimental and theoretical work on collisions of ultracold molecules is discussed.

To be published in International reviews in Physical Chemistry, Vol. 25, issue 4 (October 2006)

References in corpus (21)

• Bose-Einstein condensation of chromium
• Vortices and Superfluidity in a Strongly Interacting Fermi Gas
• Observation of Bose-Einstein Condensation of Molecules
• Observation of the Pairing Gap in a Strongly Interacting Fermi Gas
• Crossover from a molecular Bose-Einstein condensate to a degenerate Fermi gas
• Weakly bound dimers of fermionic atoms
• Repulsively bound atom pairs in an optical lattice
• Collective excitations of a degenerate gas at the BEC-BCS crossover
• Tuning the scattering length with an optically induced Feshbach resonance
• Molecular Probe of Pairing in the BEC-BCS Crossover
• Pure Gas of Optically Trapped Molecules Created from Fermionic Atoms
• Feshbach resonances in rubidium 87: Precision measurement and analysis
• Observation of molecules produced from a Bose-Einstein condensate
• Molecules of Fermionic Atoms in an Optical Lattice
• Formation of Quantum-Degenerate Sodium Molecules
• Atom-molecule dark states in a Bose-Einstein condensate
• Stabilization of Ultracold Molecules Using Optimal Control Theory
• Making ultracold molecules in a two color pump-dump photoassociation scheme using chirped pulses
• Spontaneous dissociation of long-range Feshbach molecules
• Production of three-body Efimov molecules in an optical lattice
• Creating Ground State Molecules with Optical Feshbach Resonances in Tight Traps

Cited by in corpus (10)

• Ultracold Molecules in the Ro-Vibrational Triplet Ground State
• The hyperfine energy levels of alkali metal dimers: ground-state polar molecules in electric and magnetic fields
• Feshbach resonances in ultracold atomic and molecular collisions: threshold behaviour and suppression of poles in scattering lengths
• Ultracold atom-molecule collisions and bound states in magnetic fields: tuning zero-energy Feshbach resonances in He-NH (3Sigma-)
• Interactions and dynamics in Li + Li_2 ultracold collisions
• Quantum calculations of H2-H2 collisions: from ultracold to thermal energies
• Feshbach resonances in ultracold atom-molecule collisions
• Formation of molecular oxygen in ultracold O + OH reaction
• Phase Separation in two-Species Atomic Bose-Einstein Condensate with Interspecies Feshbach Resonance
• Ultra-large Rydberg dimers in optical lattices