Cold molecules in an optical lattice

• Grant number: 11/23533-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: August 01, 2012
• End date: October 14, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Atomic and Molecular Physics
• Principal Investigator: Luis Gustavo Marcassa
• Grantee: Jonathan Eugene Tallant
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física de São Carlos (IFSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In the last decade, the optical dipole traps were successfully used for the trapping of atoms and molecules, including allowed to obtain condensed bosonic atoms. Several theoretical proposals suggest the use of such traps to obtain molecular condensates. However, before anything else is necessary to obtain the vibrational ground state molecules. Recently, theoretical work has proposed the formation of such molecules using light beam to fotoassociação at 1064 nm. This proposal is very interesting because it suggests the use of a wavelength, which is generally used in optical traps due to the relative simplicity of operation of fiber lasers.Currently in our laboratory, we produce on a daily basis samples of K and Rb atoms in a single trap dipole at the same time. For each species we have approximately 2x106 trapped atoms, densities of the order of 1012 cm-3 and temperatures of 10 ¼K. Preliminary results in the sample Rb and K / Rb fotoassociação suggest that naturally occurs in such traps, but the molecules are not formed in the fundamental vibrational state. In this project, we propose to produce cold molecules by fotoassociação at 1064 nm, then these molecules are trapped in an optical network. The next step will be optically pumping them to the fundamental vibrational level in an optical network and keep them imprisoned. We will study collisional processes involving these molecules in the optical network. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

PASSAGEM, HENRY FERNANDES; COLIN-RODRIGUEZ, RICARDO; TALLANT, JONATHAN; VENTURA DA SILVA, PAULO CESAR; BOULOUFA-MAAFA, NADIA; DULIEU, OLIVIER; MARCASSA, LUIS GUSTAVO. Continuous Loading of Ultracold Ground-State Rb-85(2) Molecules in a Dipole Trap Using a Single Light Beam. Physical Review Letters, v. 122, n. 12, MAR 26 2019. (11/23533-9, 13/02816-8, 14/24479-6)