Photoassociation of ultracold LiRb* molecules: observation of high efficiency and unitarity-limited rate saturation
Abstract
We report the production of ultracold heteronuclear 7Li85Rb molecules in excited electronic states by photoassociation (PA) of ultracold 7Li and 85Rb atoms. PA is performed in a dual-species 7Li-85Rb magneto-optical trap (MOT) and the PA resonances are detected using trap loss spectroscopy. We identify several strong PA resonances below the Li (2s 2S1/2) + Rb (5p 2P3/2) asymptote and experimentally determine the long range C6 dispersion coefficients. We find a molecule formation rate (PLiRb) of 3.5x107 s-1 and a PA rate coefficient (KPA) of 1.3x10-10 cm3/s, the highest among heteronuclear bi-alkali molecules. At large PA laser intensity, we observe the saturation of the PA rate coefficient (KPA) close to the theoretical value at the unitarity limit.
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