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A high phase-space density mixture of 87Rb and 133Cs: towards ultracold heteronuclear molecules

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  • Cold and ultracold molecules
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Abstract

We report the production of a high phase-space density mixture of 87Rb and 133Cs atoms in a levitated crossed optical dipole trap as the first step towards the creation of ultracold RbCs molecules via magneto-association. We present a simple and robust experimental setup designed for the sympathetic cooling of 133Cs via interspecies elastic collisions with 87Rb. Working with the |F = 1,mF = +1〉 and the |3, +3〉 states of 87Rb and 133Cs respectively, we measure a high interspecies three-body inelastic collision rate ∼10−25−10−26 cm6   s−1 which hinders the sympathetic cooling. Nevertheless by careful tailoring of the evaporation we can produce phase-space densities near quantum degeneracy for both species simultaneously. In addition we report the observation of an interspecies Feshbach resonance at 181.7(5) G and demonstrate the creation of Cs2 molecules via magneto-association on the 4(g)4 resonance at 19.8 G. These results represent important steps towards the creation of ultracold RbCs molecules in our apparatus.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Durham University, Rochester Building, Science Laboratories, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK

    H. W. Cho, D. J. McCarron, D. L. Jenkin, M. P. Köppinger & S. L. Cornish

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  1. H. W. Cho
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  2. D. J. McCarron
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  3. D. L. Jenkin
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  4. M. P. Köppinger
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  5. S. L. Cornish
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Correspondence to S. L. Cornish.

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These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Cho, H.W., McCarron, D.J., Jenkin, D.L. et al. A high phase-space density mixture of 87Rb and 133Cs: towards ultracold heteronuclear molecules. Eur. Phys. J. D 65, 125–131 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2011-10716-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2011-10716-1

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