Formation of ultracold dipolar molecules in the lowest vibrational levels by photoassociation

TL;DR

This paper reports the formation of ultracold LiCs molecules in their lowest vibrational state via photoassociation, providing detailed experimental analysis, theoretical predictions, and improved molecular dissociation energy measurements.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive analysis of the photoassociation process for ultracold LiCs molecules, including experimental, theoretical, and spectroscopic advancements.

Findings

Predicted ground state molecule distribution matches experimental spectra

Improved dissociation energy value for X1Sigma+ state

Detailed characterization of photoassociation line shape

Abstract

We recently reported the formation of ultracold LiCs molecules in the rovibrational ground state X1Sigma+,v''=0,J''=0 [J. Deiglmayr et al., PRL 101, 133004 (2008)]. Here we discuss details of the experimental setup and present a thorough analysis of the photoassociation step including the photoassociation line shape. We predict the distribution of produced ground state molecules using accurate potential nergy curves combined with an ab-initio dipole transition moment and compare this prediction with experimental ionization spectra. Additionally we improve the value of the dissociation energy for the X1Sigma+ state by high resolution spectroscopy of the vibrational ground state.