Observation of a Feshbach Resonance in Cold Atom Scattering

Abstract

We probe $s$-wave collisions of laser-cooled ${}^{85}\mathrm{Rb}({f\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}2,m}_{f}\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}\ensuremath{-}2)$ atoms with Zeeman-resolved photoassociation spectroscopy. We observe that these collisions exhibit a magnetically tunable Feshbach resonance, and determine that this resonance tunes to zero energy at a magnetic field of $164\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}7\mathrm{G}$. This result indicates that the self-interaction energy of an ${}^{85}\mathrm{Rb}$ Bose-Einstein condensate can be magnetically tuned. We also demonstrate that Zeeman-resolved photoassociation spectroscopy provides a useful new tool for the study of ultracold atomic collisions.