Toward the production of quantum degenerate bosonic polar molecules, 41K87Rb

Abstract

We review our experimental progress toward achieving the production of quantum degenerate bosonic polar molecules, 41K87Rb. Our primary goal is to transfer quantum degenerate Feshbach molecules into the absolute ground state via the stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP). We have achieved a dual-species Bose-Einstein condensate of 41K and 87Rb in a magnetic trap, which consists of Nk= 1.4 ×104 potassium atoms and Mu = 3.5 × 104 rubidium atoms. An optimum optical transition for STIRAP is being identified by a separate experiment based on photoassociation in a dualspecies magneto-optical trap of 41K and 87Rb. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.