An ultracold high-density sample of rovibronic ground-state molecules in an optical lattice

Danzl, J. G.; Mark, M. J.; Haller, E.; Gustavsson, M.; Hart, R.; Aldegunde, J.; Hutson, J. M.; Nägerl, H. C.

Abstract

Control over all internal and external degrees of freedom of molecules at the level of single quantum states will enable a series of fundamental studies in physics and chemistry. In particular, samples of ground-state molecules at ultralow temperatures and high number densities will facilitate new quantum-gas studies and future applications in quantum information science. However, high phase-space densities for molecular samples are not readily attainable because efficient cooling techniques such as laser cooling are lacking. Here we produce an ultracold and dense sample of molecules in a single hyperfine level of the rovibronic ground state with each molecule individually trapped in the motional ground state of an optical lattice well. Starting from a zero-temperature atomic Mott-insulator state with optimized double-site occupancy, weakly bound dimer molecules are efficiently associated on a Feshbach resonance and subsequently transferred to the rovibronic ground state by a stimulated four-photon process with >50% efficiency. The molecules are trapped in the lattice and have a lifetime of 8 s. Our results present a crucial step towards Bose–Einstein condensation of ground-state molecules and, when suitably generalized to polar heteronuclear molecules, the realization of dipolar quantum-gas phases in optical lattices.

Citation

Danzl, J. G., Mark, M. J., Haller, E., Gustavsson, M., Hart, R., Aldegunde, J., …Nägerl, H. C. (2010). An ultracold high-density sample of rovibronic ground-state molecules in an optical lattice. Nature Physics, 6(4), 265-270. https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1533

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Apr 1, 2010
• Deposit Date: Feb 2, 2012
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 10, 2013
• Journal: Nature Physics
• Print ISSN: 1745-2473
• Electronic ISSN: 1745-2481
• Publisher: Nature Research
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 6
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 265-270
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1533
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1515902