Molecules of fermionic atoms in an optical lattice

We create molecules from fermionic atoms in a three-dimensional optical lattice using a Feshbach resonance. In the limit of low tunneling, the individual wells can be regarded as independent three-dimensional harmonic oscillators. The measured binding energies for varying scattering length agree exc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPhysical review letters Vol. 96; no. 3; p. 030401
Main Authors Stöferle, Thilo, Moritz, Henning, Günter, Kenneth, Köhl, Michael, Esslinger, Tilman
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 27.01.2006
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Summary:We create molecules from fermionic atoms in a three-dimensional optical lattice using a Feshbach resonance. In the limit of low tunneling, the individual wells can be regarded as independent three-dimensional harmonic oscillators. The measured binding energies for varying scattering length agree excellently with the theoretical prediction for two interacting atoms in a harmonic oscillator. We demonstrate that the formation of molecules can be used to measure the occupancy of the lattice and perform thermometry.
ISSN:0031-9007
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.030401