title: Coherent control of ultracold molecule dynamics in a magneto-optical trap by use of chirped femtosecond laser pulses.
abstract: We have studied the effects of chirped femtosecond laser pulses on the formation of ultracold molecules in a Rb magneto-optical trap. We have found that application of chirped femtosecond pulses suppressed the formation of (85)Rb and (87)Rb(2) a(3)sigma(+)(u) molecules in contrast to comparable nonchirped pulses, cw illumination, and background formation rates. Variation of the amount of chirp indicated that this suppression is coherent in nature, suggesting that coherent control is likely to be useful for manipulating the dynamics of ultracold quantum molecular gases.
authors.affiliation: Clarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, UK. ben.brown@nist.gov
authors.forename: Benjamin L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Alexander J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Dicks
authors.forename: Ian A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Walmsley
mesh_terms: D040761:Biomimetic Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D005615:Freezing; D007834:Lasers; D008280:Magnetics; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D012413:Rubidium / Q000737:chemistry*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D012413:Rubidium