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A: Atomphysik
A 9: Poster I
A 9.11: Poster
Wednesday, March 6, 2002, 11:00–13:00, Schloss
Photoassociation of cold Rubidium atoms to neutral molecules — •I. Mistrik1, M. Kemann1, H. Helm1, C. Wiliams2, and P. S. Julienne2 — 1Fak. f. Physik, Univ.Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg — 2NIST Gaithersburg, MD USA.
The long-range interaction between excited and ground state
Rb
atoms within 15 GHz of the Rb(5p3/2,fa=3) +
Rb(5s,fb=2)
dissociation limits is studied by high resolution
photoassociation
spectrosccopy in a MOT, detecting neutral Rb2 molecules
via
two-photon ionization. Vibrational levels in the long-range,
hyperfine-split Og− states are identified as the
dominant features
leading to the formation of stable molecules in the
photoassociation
process. A break-off in the vibrational bands is
identified in both
series, at positions matching the energetic location of
the potential
energy barriers predicted in the hyperfine manifolds just
above the
Rb(5p3/2,fa=3) + Rb(5s,fb=2) dissociation limit.
Empirical
potential energy curves are derived from the data. They are
found to
be in good agreement with theoretical predictions [1].
Research supported by the DFG (SFB 276, TP C16).
[1] C. J. Williams and P. S. Julienne, J. Chem. Phys. 101, 2634 (1994).