Atomic Physics Seminars

Photoassociation, the process by which two free atoms absorb a photon to form a bound, excited molecule, is an extremely powerful tool for studying long-range atom-atom interactions. In a sample of trapped, ultracold (T < 1 mK) atoms, the technique is most often used to obtain high resolution spectroscopy of electronically-excited molecules near their dissociation limit. However, we have recently used this technique to monitor and manipulate collisions of ultracold atoms, and to produce weakly bound, translationally cold molecules in their electronic ground state. I will discuss some of these recent interesting results from the Laser Cooling and Trapping Group at NIST.