Measuring dipolar spin exchanges in ultracold polar KRb molecules

ORAL

Abstract

By encoding spin in rotational states, we have observed spin exchanges of ultracold polar KRb molecules that are confined in a deep three dimensional optical lattice [Yan \textit{et al.}, Nature \textbf{501}, 521 (2013)]. The interactions manifest as a density dependent decay of the spin coherence of the system, which is probed via Ramsey spectroscopy. In addition to decaying, there are oscillations in the contrast, with frequency components that are consistent with the dipolar interaction energies. By adding additional pulses, we can suppress pairwise dipolar interactions. We have studied these spin exchanges for two different pairs of rotational states, which differ by a factor of two in interaction strength, and find the decay and oscillations to be roughly twice as fast in the case of stronger interactions. This work lays the foundation for future studies of quantum magnetism with polar molecules in optical lattices.

*We acknowledge funding from NIST, NSF, DOE, AFOSR-MURI, DARPA, and the NDSEG Graduate Fellowship.

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Authors

  • Steven Moses

    • JILA, NIST, and University of Colorado, Boulder

  • Bo Yan

    • JILA, NIST, and University of Colorado, Boulder
    • JILA

  • Bryce Gadway

    • JILA, NIST, and University of Colorado, Boulder

  • Jacob Covey

    • JILA, NIST, and University of Colorado, Boulder

  • Kaden Hazzard

    • JILA, NIST and Dept. of Physics, CU Boulder
    • JILA, University of Colorado and National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440, USA
    • JILA
    • JILA, NIST, and University of Colorado, Boulder

  • Ana Maria Rey

    • JILA
    • JILA, NIST, and University of Colorado, Boulder
    • JILA and University of Colorado
    • JILA, NIST, and Department of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder

  • Deborah Jin

    • JILA, NIST and University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440, USA and Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-04
    • NIST and Univ of Colorado, Boulder
    • JILA, NIST, and University of Colorado, Boulder
    • JILA

  • Jun Ye

    • JILA, NIST, and University of Colorado, Boulder
    • JILA