Speaker: Professor Luis Marcassa, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil
Abstract: We have developed an approach to continuously load ultracold 85Rb2 vibrational ground state molecules into a crossed optical dipole trap from a magneto-optical trap. The technique relies on a single high-power light beam with a broad spectrum superimposed onto a narrow peak at an energy of about 9400 cm-1. This single laser source performs all the required steps, namely the photoassociation, vibrational cooling, and optical trapping of the molecules. We have also performed depletion spectroscopy, which allows us to determine that 75% of the vX= 0 molecules are in J= 0, 1 and 2 rotational states. The lifetime of the ultracold molecules in the optical dipole trap is limited by off-resonant light scattering to about 70 ms. The proposed technique may open perspectives for the formation of new molecular species in the ultracold domain, which are not yet accessible by well-established approaches.