Coherent Manipulation of Orbital Feshbach Molecules of Two-Electron Atoms

Year: 2019

Authors: Cappellini G., Livi L.F., Franchi L., Tusi D., Benedicto Orenes D., Inguscio M., Catani J., Fallani L.

Autors Affiliation: Univ Firenze, Dipartimento Fis & Astron, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; LENS European Lab Nonlinear Spect, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; CNR, INO CNR Ist Nazl Ott, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; Ist Nazl Fis Nucl, Sez Firenze, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.

Abstract: Ultracold molecules have experienced increasing attention in recent years. Compared to ultracold atoms, they possess several unique properties that make them perfect candidates for the implementation of new quantum-technological applications in several fields, from quantum simulation to quantum sensing and metrology. In particular, ultracold molecules of two-electron atoms (such as strontium or ytterbium) also inherit the peculiar properties of these atomic species, above all, the possibility to access metastable electronic states via direct excitation on optical clock transitions with ultimate sensitivity and accuracy. We report on the production and coherent manipulation of molecular bound states of two fermionic 173Yb atoms in different electronic (orbital) states 1S0 and 3P0 in the proximity of a scattering resonance involving atoms in different spin and electronic states, called orbital Feshbach resonance.We demonstrate that orbital molecules can be coherently photoassociated starting from a gas of ground-state atoms in a threedimensional optical lattice by observing several photoassociation and photodissociation cycles. We also show the possibility to coherently control the molecular internal state by using Raman-assisted transfer to swap the nuclear spin of one of the atoms forming the molecule, thus demonstrating a powerful manipulation and detection tool of these molecular bound states. Finally, by exploiting this peculiar detection technique we provide the first information on the lifetime of the molecular states in a many-body setting, paving the way towards future investigations of strongly interacting Fermi gases in a still unexplored regime.

Journal/Review: PHYSICAL REVIEW X

Volume: 9 (1)      Pages from: 011028-1  to: 011028-11

More Information: We are very grateful to H. Zhai, P. Zhang, R. Zhang, and Y. Cheng for the numerous inspiring discussions and for suggesting that we perform Raman measurements on orbital molecules. We also acknowledge insightful discussions within the LENS QuantumGases group, in particular, with G. Roati, F. Scazza, and M. Zaccanti. We thank D. Calonico (INRIM) for lending us the clock-laser chip, and TOPTICA Photonics AG for their prompt and high-quality technical assistance. We acknowledge financial support from H2020 European Research Council (ERC Consolidator Grant TOPSIM Grant Agreement No. 682629), European QuantERA ERA-NET Cofund in Quantum Technologies (Project QTFLAG Grant Agreement No. 731473), Ministero dell?Istruzione, dell?Universita e della Ricerca (MIUR Project FARE TOPSPACE R16SPCCRCW, and MIUR PRIN Project No. 2015C5SEJJ) and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN Project FISh)
KeyWords: Coherent scattering; Crystal lattices; Electron gas; Electronic states; Fermions; Ground state; Molecules; Optical lattices; Photodissociation; Quantum chemistry, Coherent manipulation; Feshbach resonances; Optical clock transition; Quantum simulations; Scattering resonance; Technological applications; Three-dimensional optical lattice; Ultracold molecules, Atoms
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevX.9.011028

Citations: 24
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