Abstract
We have produced large samples of stable ultracold molecules in the electronic ground state in an optical lattice. The fast, all-optical method of molecule creation involves a near-intercombination-line photoassociation pulse followed by spontaneous emission with a near-unity Franck-Condon factor. The detection uses excitation to a weakly bound electronically excited vibrational level corresponding to a very large dimer and yields a high- molecular vibronic resonance. This is the first of two steps needed to create deeply bound for frequency metrology and ultracold chemistry.
- Received 1 June 2012
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.115303
© 2012 American Physical Society