Atom-molecule Rabi oscillations in a Mott insulator
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Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Experimental Methods for Trapping Ions Using Microfabricated Surface Ion Traps
Published on: August 17, 2017
N Syassen1, D M Bauer, M Lettner
1Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Strasse 1, 85748 Garching, Germany.
Abstract:
We observe large-amplitude Rabi oscillations between an atomic and a molecular state near a Feshbach resonance. The experiment uses 87Rb in an optical lattice and a Feshbach resonance near 414 G. The frequency and amplitude of the oscillations depend on the magnetic field in a way that is well described by a two-level model. The observed density dependence of the oscillation frequency agrees with theoretical expectations. We confirmed that the state produced after a half-cycle contains exactly one molecule at each lattice site. In addition, we show that, for energies in a gap of the lattice band structure, the molecules cannot dissociate.
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