Observation of magnetically tunable Feshbach resonances in ultracold 23Na40K + 40K collisions

Resonances in ultracold collisions involving heavy molecules are difficult to simulate theoretically and have proven challenging to detect. Here we report the observation of magnetically tunable Feshbach resonances in ultracold collisions between potassium-40 (40K) atoms and sodium-23–potassium-40 (...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2019-01, Vol.363 (6424), p.261-264
Main Authors: Yang, Huan, Zhang, De-Chao, Liu, Lan, Liu, Ya-Xiong, Nan, Jue, Zhao, Bo, Pan, Jian-Wei
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cold atoms
Collisions
Ground state
Lasers
Low temperature
Magnetic fields
Magnetic resonance
Observation
Potassium
Potassium 40
Potential energy
Quantum mechanics
Sodium
Triatomic molecules
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Summary:Resonances in ultracold collisions involving heavy molecules are difficult to simulate theoretically and have proven challenging to detect. Here we report the observation of magnetically tunable Feshbach resonances in ultracold collisions between potassium-40 (40K) atoms and sodium-23–potassium-40 (23Na40K) molecules in the rovibrational ground state. We prepare the atoms and molecules in various hyperfine levels of their ground states and observe the loss of molecules as a function of the magnetic field. The atom-molecule Feshbach resonances are identified by observing an enhancement of the loss. We have observed 11 resonances in the magnetic field range of 43 to 120 gauss. The observed atom-molecule Feshbach resonances at ultralow temperatures probe the three-body potential energy surface with exceptional resolution and will help to improve understanding of ultracold collisions.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.aau5322