title: Control of ultracold collisions with frequency-chirped light.
abstract: We report on ultracold atomic collision experiments utilizing frequency-chirped laser light. A rapid chirp below the atomic resonance results in adiabatic excitation to an attractive molecular potential over a wide range of internuclear separation. This leads to a transient inelastic collision rate which is large compared to that obtained with fixed-frequency excitation. The combination of high efficiency and temporal control demonstrates the benefit of applying the techniques of coherent control to the ultracold domain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, U-3046, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Gensemer
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vala
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kosloff
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Gould