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arXiv · 1110.4420

Long-lived dipolar molecules and Feshbach molecules in a 3D optical lattice

Amodsen Chotia·Brian Neyenhuis·Steven A. Moses·Bo Yan·Jacob P. Covey·Michael Foss-Feig·Ana Maria Rey·Deborah S. Jin·Jun Ye
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Abstract

We have realized long-lived ground-state polar molecules in a 3D optical lattice, with a lifetime of up to 25 s, which is limited only by off-resonant scattering of the trapping light. Starting from a 2D optical lattice, we observe that the lifetime increases dramatically as a small lattice potential is added along the tube-shaped lattice traps. The 3D optical lattice also dramatically increases the lifetime for weakly bound Feshbach molecules. For a pure gas of Feshbach molecules, we observe a lifetime of >20 s in a 3D optical lattice; this represents a 100-fold improvement over previous results. This lifetime is also limited by off-resonant scattering, the rate of which is related to the size of the Feshbach molecule. Individually trapped Feshbach molecules in the 3D lattice can be converted to pairs of K and Rb atoms and back with nearly 100% efficiency.

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Amodsen Chotia, Brian Neyenhuis, Steven A. Moses, Bo Yan, Jacob P. Covey, Michael Foss-Feig, Ana Maria Rey, Deborah S. Jin, Jun Ye. 2011-10-20. Long-lived dipolar molecules and Feshbach molecules in a 3D optical lattice. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.108.080405

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