Wang Li-Rong

Photoassociative Production and Detection of Ultracold Polar RbCs Molecules

We have produced ultracold polar RbCs molecules via photoassociation starting from laser-cooled 85Rb and 133Cs atoms in a dual-species, forced dark magneto-optical trap. The formed electronically excited RbCs* molecules correlated to the Rb(5S1/2) + Cs(6P1/2) dissociation limit are observed by trap loss spectroscopy. Following the decay of these excited RbCs* molecules, the formed ground state molecules are directly ionized by a two-photon single-color pulse dye laser, which is a new ionization mechanism for ground state RbCs molecules and thence detected by time-of-flight mass spectroscopy.

Investigation of ultracold atoms and molecules in a dark magneto-optical trap

In this paper, ultracold atoms and molecules in a dark magneto-optical trap (MOT) are studied via depumping the cesium cold atoms into the dark hyperfine ground state. The collision rate is reduced to 0.45 s−1 and the density of the atoms is increased to 5.6 × 1011 cm−3 when the fractional population of the atoms in the bright hyperfine ground state is as low as 0.15. The vibrational spectra of the ultracold cesium molecules are also studied in a standard MOT and in a dark MOT separately. The experimental results are analyzed by using the perturbative quantum approach.

Precise measurement of the line width of the photoassociation spectra of ultracold molecules by using a frequency shifter

We propose a technique to precisely measure the line width of the photoassociation spectra of the excited cesium molecule by using a frequency shifter to generate two laser beams with a precise frequency difference. A series of photoassociation (PA) spectra are recorded with two laser beam induced molecular lines, whose peak separation serves as an accurate frequency ruler to measure the line width of the PA spectra. The full width half maximum line width was studied as a function of PA laser intensity. The extrapolated value at zero laser intensity is (34.84 ? 0.22) MHz. By analyzing other broadening mechanisms, a value of (32.02 ? 0.70) MHz was deduced. It is shown that this scheme is inexpensive, simple, robust, and is promising for applications in a variety of other atomic species.

Saturation of Photoassociation in Cs Magneto-optical Trap

An ultrahigh resolution photoassociation spectrum of caesium atoms in a magneto-optical trap is presented. Hyperfine structure of the excited state molecule is obtained by using the lock-in method based on modulated cold atoms in this spectrum. Amplitude of resonant lines related to the rotational levels increases with photoassociation laser intensity, and saturation effect of photoassociation of cold atoms is observed in our experiment. The saturation intensity of photoassociation is deduced by fitting the experimental data to a saturation model based on scattering theory. Differences among saturation intensities of different rotational progressions in the ν = 55 vibrational state of the caesium molecular long-range 0g− state have been found.

Two-photon spectrum of 87Rb using optical frequency comb*

The high precision two-photon excitation measurements for 5S1/2 (Fg = 2) to 5D5/2 (Fe = 4 to 1) of 87Rb are performed by using an optical frequency comb. The two counter-propagating femtosecond pulses (5S1/2 → 5P3/2 at 780 nm, and 5P3/2 → 5D5/2 at 776 nm) act on 87Rb vapor, and the Doppler broadened background signal is effectively eliminated. The temperature and power dependences of the two-photon spectrum are studied in this paper.

Experimental Measurement of the Absolute Frequencies and Hyperfine Coupling Constants of 133Cs Using a Femtosecond Optical Frequency Comb

High resolution two-photon spectrum of the transitions 6S1/2 → 6P3/2 → 8S1/2, 9S1/2 and 6S1/2 → 6P1/2 → 7D3/2 in neutral 133Cs are presented in a room-temperature vapor cell using a femtosecond optical frequency comb. Spectra are obtained by scanning the repetition frequency of the femtosecond optical frequency comb over the two-photon hyperfine structure. The centroid frequency of the 6S1/2 → 8S1/2, 9S1/2, 7D3/2 transitions are 729009798.80(17) MHz, 806761363.96(11) MHz, and 780894762.595(23) MHz, respectively. The hyperfine coupling constants of the corresponding states are also obtained. The results are consistent with the previous measurements.

High sensitive detection of high-order partial wave scattering in photoassociation of ultracold atoms

We report on the observation of enhanced high-order partial wave scattering from atom-atom interaction via changing the temperature of a magneto-optical trap in the process of photoassociation. The high-order scattering partial wave is directly manifested through the large signal amplitude of the rovibrational resonance levels of trap-loss spectroscopy from photoassociation.

Research on ultracold cesium molecule long-range states by high-resolution photoassociative spectroscopy

In this paper, an ultra-high resolution photoassociation spectroscopy study on photoassociation of cesium atoms is reported. The cold cesium gas in the magneto-optical trap is illuminated by a photoassociation laser with red-tuning as large as 40 cm−1 below the 6S1/2 + 6P3/2 dissociation limit, and the photoassociation to the excited state ultracold molecule is detected. High signal-to-noise ratio is obtained by using the lock-in detection of the fluorescence from the modulated cold Cs atoms. The 0g−, 1g and 0u+ long-range states which correspond to 6S1/2 + 6P3/2 dissociation limit are present in the photoassociation spectrum. The effective coefficients of leading long-range interactions and the corresponding vibrational quantum number are obtained using LeRoy-Bernstein Law. It is found that photoassociation process creates rotating molecules and the high J value is a hint that higher partial waves participate in the PA process in the presence of trapping laser.

Electromagnetically-induced transparency in a multi-V-type system in cesium atomic vapour

Electromagnetically-induced transparency is observed in a three-level multi-V-type system in cesium vapour at room temperature. The absorption property is measured and the hyperfine structures of atomic states can be determined. The results of the experiment agree with the theoretical analysis.

The laser-intensity dependence of the photoassociation spectrum of the ultracold Cs2(6S1/2 + 6P1/2) 0+u long-range molecular state

The high-resolution photoassociation spectrum of the ultracold cesium molecular 0u+ state below the 6S1/2 + 6P1/2 limit is presented in this paper. The saturation of the photoassociation scattering probability is observed from the dependence of the trap-loss probability on the photoassociation laser intensity. The corresponding resonant line width is also demonstrated to increase linearly with increasing photoassociation laser intensity. Our experimental data have good consistency with the theoretical saturation model of Bohn and Julienne [Bohn J L and Julienne P S 1999 Phys. Rev. A 60 1].