Photoassociation spectroscopy of ultracold $^{173}$Yb atoms near the intercombination line

TL;DR

This study conducts photoassociation spectroscopy of ultracold $^{173}$Yb atoms near the intercombination line, revealing numerous resonances and the effects of Zeeman splitting, advancing understanding of high nuclear spin ultracold systems.

Contribution

First detailed PA spectroscopy of $^{173}$Yb near the intercombination line, exploring Zeeman effects and atom loss rates in a high nuclear spin fermionic system.

Findings

Eighty PA resonances observed, indicating complex high nuclear spin interactions.

Zeeman effect analyzed near -0.8 GHz detuning, identifying quantum levels.

Atom loss rates measured at various PA resonances, providing insight into PA dynamics.

Abstract

We report on photoassociation (PA) spectroscopy of a degenerate Fermi gas of $^{173}$Yb atoms near the dissociation limit of the spin-forbidden ${^1}S_0-{^3}P_1$ intercombination transition. An atom-loss spectrum is measured from a trapped sample for a spectral range down to $-1$~GHz with respect to the $f=5/2 \rightarrow f^\prime=7/2$ atomic resonance. The spectrum shows eighty PA resonances, revealing the high nuclear spin nature of the system. We investigate the Zeeman effect on the spectrum near a detuning of $-0.8$~GHz, where we examine the quantum numbers of the Zeeman levels using various two-component spin mixture samples. Finally, we measure the atom loss rate under PA light for several pronounced PA resonances.