Ultracold heteronuclear molecules in a 3D optical lattice

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the creation and characterization of ultracold heteronuclear molecules from fermionic 40K and bosonic 87Rb atoms in a 3D optical lattice, including binding energy measurement and lifetime analysis.

Contribution

It reports the first detailed creation, binding energy determination, and lifetime measurement of heteronuclear molecules in a 3D optical lattice.

Findings

Molecules successfully created at Feshbach resonance on both sides.

Binding energy measured via rf spectroscopy.

Molecular lifetime ranges from 20 to 120 ms.

Abstract

We report on the creation of ultracold heteronuclear molecules assembled from fermionic 40K and bosonic 87Rb atoms in a 3D optical lattice. Molecules are produced at a heteronuclear Feshbach resonance both on the attractive and the repulsive side of the resonance. We precisely determine the binding energy of the heteronuclear molecules from rf spectroscopy across the Feshbach resonance. We characterize the lifetime of the molecular sample as a function of magnetic field and measure between 20 and 120ms. The efficiency of molecule creation via rf association is measured and is found to decrease as expected for more deeply bound molecules.