Ultracold ²³Na⁶Li molecules in the triplet ground state

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, 2018.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Rvachov, Timur Michael
Other Authors: Wolfgang Ketterle.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/119113
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author Rvachov, Timur Michael
author2 Wolfgang Ketterle.
author_facet Wolfgang Ketterle.
Rvachov, Timur Michael
author_sort Rvachov, Timur Michael
collection MIT
description Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, 2018.
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spelling mit-1721.1/1191132019-04-12T23:04:55Z Ultracold ²³Na⁶Li molecules in the triplet ground state Rvachov, Timur Michael Wolfgang Ketterle. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics. Physics. Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, 2018. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (pages 161-173). This thesis describes experiments in spectroscopy and formation of triplet ²³Na⁶Li molecules from an initial mixture of ultracold ²³Na and ⁶Li. The production of quantum degenerate molecules with long-range dipolar interactions is a long-standing goal in low temperature physics. NaLi is a fermionic molecule with an electric dipole moment of 0.2 Debye and a magnetic dipole moment of 2 [mu]B in its triplet ro-vibrational ground state. The formation of an ultracold molecule with both electric and magnetic dipole moments allows for novel opportunities in control of ultracold molecular reactions and studies of quantum many-body systems with dipolar interactions. This experimental work consists of two parts. The first is a thorough spectroscopic study of the excited and ground triplet potentials of NaLi using one- and two-photon photoassociation spectroscopy. We present the spectroscopic positions and strengths of transitions to nearly all vibrational states in the excited c³[sigma]⁺ and ground ³[sigma]⁺ potentials of NaLi. This is the first spectroscopic observation of triplet potentials in NaLi and the first demonstration of photoassociation in the Na-Li system. The second part utilizes our spectroscopic results to coherently form an ultracold gas of NaLi molecules. Starting with an ultracold Na-Li mixture, we use magneto-association to form weakly bound Feshbach molecules. The Feshbach molecules are then transfered to the ro-vibrational triplet ground state using a two-photon stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) technique, forming 3 x 10⁴ molecules at a density of 5 x 10¹⁰ cm⁻³ and temperature of 3 [mu]K. The molecules are long-lived with a measured lifetime of 5 seconds, which highlights their fermionic nature and low universal inelastic loss rate. The utility of the molecule's magnetic moment is demonstrated by performing electron spin resonance spectroscopy to measure the hyperfine structure of the molecule. by Timur Michael Rvachov. Ph. D. 2018-11-15T16:37:07Z 2018-11-15T16:37:07Z 2018 2018 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/119113 1059578061 eng MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 173 pages application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Physics.
Rvachov, Timur Michael
Ultracold ²³Na⁶Li molecules in the triplet ground state
title Ultracold ²³Na⁶Li molecules in the triplet ground state
title_full Ultracold ²³Na⁶Li molecules in the triplet ground state
title_fullStr Ultracold ²³Na⁶Li molecules in the triplet ground state
title_full_unstemmed Ultracold ²³Na⁶Li molecules in the triplet ground state
title_short Ultracold ²³Na⁶Li molecules in the triplet ground state
title_sort ultracold ²³na⁶li molecules in the triplet ground state
topic Physics.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/119113
work_keys_str_mv AT rvachovtimurmichael ultracold23na6limoleculesinthetripletgroundstate