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Eduardo Gomez, A T. Black, Lincoln Turner, Eite Tiesinga, Paul D. Lett
Abstract
We study the time-resolved photoassociation of ultracold sodium in an optical dipole trap. The photoassociation laser excites pairs of atoms to molecular states of large total angular momentum at high intensities (above 20 kW/cm2). Such transitions are generally suppressed at ultracold temperatures by the centrifugal barriers for high partial waves. Time-resolved ionization measurements reveal that the atoms are accelerated by the dipole potential of the photoassociation beam. We change the collision energy by varying the potential depth, and observe a strong variation of the photoassociation rate. These results demonstrate the important role of light forces in cw photoassociation at high intensities.
Citation
Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics)
Volume
75
Issue
1
Pub Type
Journals
Keywords
light forces, molecular spectra, photoassociation
Citation
Gomez, E.
, Black, A.
, Turner, L.
, Tiesinga, E.
and Lett, P.
(2007),
Light Force in Ultracold Photoassociation, Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics)
(Accessed June 1, 2023)