2009/11/16 by Matt Mackie, Mackie, Matt, Catherine DeBrosse +1
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Atomic Physics (physics.atom-ph) #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #FOS: Physical sciences #Laser-Matter Interactions and Applications #Other Condensed Matter (cond-mat.other) #Quantum Gases (cond-mat.quant-gas) #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Quantum Physics (quant-ph) #cond-mat.other #cond-mat.quant-gas #physics.atom-ph #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.0911.3167
7 pages, 5 figures, 68 references
arxiv created 2009/11/16 · openalex publication_date 2009/11/16 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We consider two-color heteronuclear photoassociation of atoms into dipolar molecules in the J=1 electro-vibrational ground state, where a free-ground laser couples atoms directly to the ground state and a free-bound laser couples the atoms to an electronically-excited state. This problem raises an interest because heteronuclear photoassociation from atoms to near-ground state molecules is limited by the small size of the target state. Nevertheless, the addition of the excited state creates a second pathway for creating ground state molecules, leading to quantum interference between direct photoassociation and photoassociation via the excited molecular state, as well as a dispersive-like shift of the free-ground resonance position. Using LiNa as an example, these results are shown to depend on the detuning and intensity of the free-bound laser, as well as the semi-classical size of both molecular states. Despite strong enhancement, coherent conversion to the LiNa electro-vibrational ground state is possible only in a limited regime near the free-bound resonance.