Stimulated Raman molecule production in Bose-Einstein condensates

Abstract

A Raman photoassociation process can be used to form translationally cold molecules from a Bose-Einstein condensate. Coupled-channels scattering calculations show that the rate coefficient for coherent production of molecules in specific target states, $>{10}^{\ensuremath{-}10} {\mathrm{cm}}^{3}/\mathrm{s},$ can greatly exceed the rate coefficient for heating and loss channels due to excited-state spontaneous decay. This implies the feasibility of rapid coherent conversion of atom pairs in a condensate to molecules on a time scale short compared to the trap oscillation time.