Inelastic collisions of ultracold triplet Rb2 molecules in the rovibrational ground state

Björn Drews (), Markus Deiß, Krzysztof Jachymski, Zbigniew Idziaszek and Johannes Hecker Denschlag ()
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Björn Drews: Institut für Quantenmaterie and Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology IQST, Universität Ulm
Markus Deiß: Institut für Quantenmaterie and Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology IQST, Universität Ulm
Krzysztof Jachymski: Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw
Zbigniew Idziaszek: Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw
Johannes Hecker Denschlag: Institut für Quantenmaterie and Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology IQST, Universität Ulm

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Exploring and controlling inelastic and reactive collisions on the quantum level is a main goal of the developing field of ultracold chemistry. For this, the preparation of precisely defined initial atomic and molecular states in tailored environments is necessary. Here we present experimental studies of inelastic collisions of metastable ultracold Rb2 molecules in an array of quasi-1D potential tubes. In particular, we investigate collisions of molecules in the absolute lowest triplet energy level where any inelastic process requires a change of the electronic state. Remarkably, we find similar decay rates as for collisions between rotationally or vibrationally excited triplet molecules where other decay paths are also available. The decay rates are close to the ones for universal reactions but vary considerably when confinement and collision energy are changed. This might be exploited to control the collisional properties of molecules.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14854

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