Trapping of Rb2 molecules

• Grant number: 25/10167-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: November 01, 2025
• End date: July 31, 2029
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Atomic and Molecular Physics
• Principal Investigator: Luis Gustavo Marcassa
• Grantee: Jaime Javier Borges Marquez
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física de São Carlos (IFSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/04107-0 - Collisions in a Cold Trapped Molecular Sample in a well-defined quantum state: COCOTRAMOS, AP.TEM

Abstract

Our laboratory has developed techniques for the formation of molecules by photoassociation and manipulation of molecular rotational states by optical pumping. Such samples were formed in the fundamental vibrational state (¿X=0) with 75% in the lower rotational states (JX=0, 1 and 2). The objective of this project is to produce and trap a molecular sample of Rb2(¿X=0, JX=0) in an optical dipole trap. We will start with a sample of cold atoms, trapped in a magneto-optical trap, and then photoassociate them at short range with a high-power laser. The next step involves the use of an optical dipole trap, at 1.06 µm, to trap the molecules. In this sample, we will perform experiments involving collisions between molecules in the ground state, as well as Rydberg molecules.