DOI: 10.1209/epl/i2003-00284-x
Europhys. Lett., 64 (2) , pp. 171-177 (2003)

Controlling the formation of cold molecules via a Feshbach resonance

B. Laburthe Tolra, N. Hoang, B. T'Jampens, N. Vanhaecke, C. Drag, A. Crubellier, D. Comparat and P. Pillet

Laboratoire Aimé Cotton, CNRS, Bât. 505, Campus d'Orsay 91405 Orsay Cedex, France

pierre.pillet@lac.u-psud.fr

(Received 16 May 2003; accepted in final form 5 August 2003)

Abstract
Ultracold molecules are formed via photoassociation in a polarized sample of cold cesium atoms. The rate of molecule formation is controlled by tuning a magnetic field. The radial dependence of the colliding wave function is probed by the photoassociation spectroscopy technique. We have in this way observed the drastic influence of the magnetic field in a broad Feshbach resonance for f=3, m=3 colliding atoms and for magnetic fields up to 30 .

PACS
32.80.Pj - Optical cooling of atoms; trapping.
33.55.Be - Zeeman and Stark effects.
34.20.-b - Interatomic and intermolecular potentials and forces, potential energy surfaces for collisions.

© EDP Sciences 2003