Inelastic collisions of ultracold triplet Rb2molecules in the rovibrational ground state.
Exploring and controlling inelastic and reactive collisions on the quantum level is a main goal of the developing field of ultracold chemistry. For this, the preparation of precisely defined initial atomic and molecular states in tailored environments is necessary. Here we present experimental studies of inelastic collisions of metastable ultracold Rb2molecules in an array of quasi-1D potential tubes. In particular, we investigate collisions of molecules in the absolute lowest triplet energy level where any inelastic process requires a change of the electronic state. Remarkably, we find similar decay rates as for collisions between rotationally or vibrationally excited triplet molecules where other decay paths are also available. The decay rates are close to the ones for universal reactions but vary considerably when confinement and collision energy are changed. This might be exploited to control the collisional properties of molecules.
Institut für Quantenmaterie and Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology IQST, Universität Ulm, D-89069 Ulm, Germany.
Björn
B
Drews
Institut für Quantenmaterie and Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology IQST, Universität Ulm, D-89069 Ulm, Germany.
Markus
M
Deiß
Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 5, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland.
Krzysztof
K
Jachymski
Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 5, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland.
Zbigniew
Z
Idziaszek
Institut für Quantenmaterie and Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology IQST, Universität Ulm, D-89069 Ulm, Germany.
Johannes
J
Hecker Denschlag