Observation of Ultracold Ground-State Heteronuclear Molecules

Abstract

We report the observation of translationally ultracold heteronuclear ground-state molecules in a two-species magneto-optical trap containing 39K and 85Rb atoms. The KRb molecules are produced via photoassociation and detected by multiphoton ionization. We had characterized their temperature and measured their formation rate constant. We believe that the two-species trap could be used as a reliable source of ultracold molecules to be captured by electrostatic, magnetic, or optical traps. This possibility will certainly motivate further investigation of quantum collective effects as well as high-resolution spectroscopy of the rovibrational level structure of cold heteronuclear molecular systems.