Observation of Collisions between Two Ultracold Ground-State CaF Molecules
Lawrence W. Cheuk, Loïc Anderegg, Yicheng Bao, Sean Burchesky, Scarlett S. Yu, Wolfgang Ketterle, Kang-Kuen Ni, John M. Doyle
Abstract
We measure inelastic collisions between ultracold CaF molecules by combining two optical tweezers, each containing a single molecule. We observe collisions between ^{2}Σ CaF molecules in the absolute ground state |X,v=0,N=0,F=0⟩, and in excited hyperfine and rotational states. In the absolute ground state, we find a two-body loss rate of 7(4)×10^{-11} cm^{3}/s, which is below, but close to, the predicted universal loss rate.
Topics & Concepts
Atomic physicsPhysicsExcited stateGround stateHyperfine structureTrappingMoleculeOptical tweezersUltracold atomInelastic collisionOpticsNuclear physicsQuantum mechanicsElectronEcologyBiologyQuantumCold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein CondensatesSpectroscopy and Laser ApplicationsAdvanced Frequency and Time Standards