Formation of ultracold molecules by merging optical tweezers

TL;DR

This paper reports the successful formation of a single ultracold RbCs molecule by merging two optical tweezers containing individual atoms, with control over formation probability and confirmation via binding energy measurements.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method of forming ultracold molecules through optical tweezer merging, demonstrating control over formation probability and comparable efficiency to magnetoassociation.

Findings

Molecule formation confirmed by binding energy measurements.

Formation probability controlled by trap confinement.

Conversion efficiency comparable to magnetoassociation.

Abstract

We demonstrate the formation of a single RbCs molecule during the merging of two optical tweezers, one containing a single Rb atom and the other a single Cs atom. Both atoms are initially predominantly in the motional ground states of their respective tweezers. We confirm molecule formation and establish the state of the molecule formed by measuring its binding energy. We find that the probability of molecule formation can be controlled by tuning the confinement of the traps during the merging process, in good agreement with coupled-channel calculations. We show that the conversion efficiency from atoms to molecules using this technique is comparable to magnetoassociation.