Control of Optical Transitions with Magnetic Fields in Weakly Bound Molecules.
In weakly bound diatomic molecules, energy levels are closely spaced and thus more susceptible to mixing by magnetic fields than in the constituent atoms. We use this effect to control the strengths of forbidden optical transitions in (88)Sr2 over 5 orders of magnitude with modest fields by taking advantage of the intercombination-line threshold. The physics behind this remarkable tunability is accurately explained with both a simple model and quantum chemistry calculations, and suggests new possibilities for molecular clocks. We show how mixed quantization in an optical lattice can simplify molecular spectroscopy. Furthermore, our observation of formerly inaccessible f-parity excited states offers an avenue for improving theoretical models of divalent-atom dimers.
Department of Physics, Columbia University, 538 West 120th Street, New York, New York 10027-5255, USA.
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McGuyer
Department of Physics, Columbia University, 538 West 120th Street, New York, New York 10027-5255, USA.
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McDonald
Department of Physics, Columbia University, 538 West 120th Street, New York, New York 10027-5255, USA.
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Iwata
Department of Chemistry, Quantum Chemistry Laboratory, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland.
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Skomorowski
Department of Chemistry, Quantum Chemistry Laboratory, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland.
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Moszynski
Department of Physics, Columbia University, 538 West 120th Street, New York, New York 10027-5255, USA.
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Zelevinsky