Ultracold giant polyatomic Rydberg molecules: coherent control of molecular orientation

We predict the existence of a class of ultracold giant molecules formed from trapped ultracold Rydberg atoms and polar molecules. The interaction which leads to the formation of such molecules is the anisotropic, long-range charge-dipole interaction. We show that prominent candidate molecules such a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2010-06, Vol.104 (24), p.243002-243002, Article 243002
Main Authors: Rittenhouse, Seth T, Sadeghpour, H R
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:We predict the existence of a class of ultracold giant molecules formed from trapped ultracold Rydberg atoms and polar molecules. The interaction which leads to the formation of such molecules is the anisotropic, long-range charge-dipole interaction. We show that prominent candidate molecules such as deuterated hydroxyl (OD) and KRb should bind to Rydberg rubidium atoms, with energies E(b)≃5-25  GHz at distances R≃0.1-1  μm. These molecules form in double wells, mimicking chiral molecules, with each well containing a particular dipole orientation. We prepare a set of correlated dressed electron-dipole eigenstates which are used in an on-resonance Raman scheme to coherently control the molecular dipole orientation.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.243002