Controlling the rotational and hyperfine state of ultracold Rb87Cs133 molecules

Gregory, P. D.; Aldegunde, J.; Hutson, J. M.; Cornish, S. L.

Abstract

We demonstrate coherent control of the rotational and hyperfine state of ultracold, chemically stable Rb87Cs133 molecules with external microwave fields. We create a sample of ∼2000 molecules in the lowest hyperfine level of the rovibronic ground state N=0. We measure the transition frequencies to eight different hyperfine levels of the N=1 state at two magnetic fields ∼23 G apart. We determine accurate values of rotational and hyperfine coupling constants that agree well with previous calculations. We observe Rabi oscillations on each transition, allowing complete population transfer to a selected hyperfine level of N=1. Subsequent application of a second microwave pulse allows the transfer of molecules back to a different hyperfine level of N=0.

Citation

Gregory, P. D., Aldegunde, J., Hutson, J. M., & Cornish, S. L. (2016). Controlling the rotational and hyperfine state of ultracold Rb87Cs133 molecules. Physical Review Letters, 94(4), Article 041403(R). https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.94.041403

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 16, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Oct 28, 2016
• Publication Date: Oct 28, 2016
• Deposit Date: Aug 31, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 31, 2016
• Journal: Physical Review Letters
• Print ISSN: 0031-9007
• Electronic ISSN: 1079-7114
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 94
• Issue: 4
• Article Number: 041403(R)
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.94.041403
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1398325
• Related Public URLs: https://arxiv.org/abs/1608.03303