Observation of a Feshbach Resonance in Cold Atom Scattering
Ph. W. CourteilleDepartment of Physics, The University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712R. S. FreelandDepartment of Physics, The University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712D. J. HeinzenDepartment of Physics, The University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712F. A. van AbeelenDepartment of Physics, The University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712B. J. VerhaarDepartment of Physics, The University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712
1998en
ABI
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.
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Cited by 20 references