Diffusion, thermalization and optical pumping of YbF molecules in a cold buffer gas cell

S. M. Skoff, R. J. Hendricks, C. D. J. Sinclair +5

We produce YbF molecules with a density of 10^18 m^-3 using laser ablation inside a cryogenically-cooled cell filled with a helium buffer gas. Using absorption imaging and absorpti…