Observation of Optically Trapped Cold Cesium Molecules

We report the first observation of optically trapped cold neutral molecules. Cesium dimers in the elect ronic ground state are produced directly in a magneto-optical trap and transferred to a dipole trap formed at the focus of a ${\mathrm{CO}}_2$ laser beam ( $\lambda =10.6\mathrm{}\mu \mathrm{m}$). These neutral molecules were detected using photoionization and time-of-flight spectroscopy. Initial experiments indicate a cold molecule trap lifetime on the order of half a second.