Photoassociation of ultracold long-range polyatomic molecules Article Swipe
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· 2021
· Open Access
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· DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevresearch.3.023163
· OA: W3039869702
We explore the feasibility of optically forming long-range tetratomic and\nlarger polyatomic molecules in their ground electronic state from ultracold\npairs of polar molecules aligned by external fields. Depending on the relative\norientation of the interacting diatomic molecules, we find that a tetratomic\ncan be formed either as a weakly bound complex in a very extended halo state or\nas a pure long-range molecule composed of collinear or nearly-collinear\ndiatomic molecules. The latter is a novel type of tetratomic molecule comprised\nof two diatomic molecules bound at long intermolecular range and predicted to\nbe stable in cold and ultracold regimes. Our numerical studies were conducted\nfor ultracold KRb and RbCs, resulting in production of (KRb)$_2$ and (RbCs)$_2$\ncomplexes, respectively. Based on universal properties of long-range\ninteractions between polar molecules, we identify triatomic and tetratomic\nlinear polar molecules with favorable ratio of dipole and quadrupole moments\nfor which the apporach could be generalized to form polyatomic molecules.\n
