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Creation of ultracold heteronuclear p-wave Feshbach molecules

Atomic Physics 2026-05-13 v5 Quantum Gases

Abstract

We report the first creation of a bulk sample of ultracold heteronuclear p-wave Feshbach molecules in an optically trapped Bose-Bose mixture of 23Na and 87Rb atoms. Using loss spectroscopy and binding energy measurements, we systematically characterize the interspecies p-wave Feshbach resonances near 284 G. Leveraging this understanding, we use magneto-association to form p-wave NaRb Feshbach molecules, producing both pure samples and mixtures of molecules in different p-wave orbitals. We further measure the molecular lifetime and identify atom-molecule and molecule-molecule collisions as the dominant loss mechanisms. This work establishes a previously unavailable ultracold molecule platform that combines orbital anisotropy with heteronuclear constituents, represents a significant step toward realizing tunable p-wave interactions in Bose-Bose mixtures, and provides a foundation for exploring non-zero angular momentum molecules.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2601.12858,
  title  = {Creation of ultracold heteronuclear p-wave Feshbach molecules},
  author = {Fan Jia and Zhichao Guo and Zerong Huang and Dajun Wang},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.12858},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

9 pages, 6 figures