286 research outputs found
Electric field suppression of ultracold confined chemical rates
We consider ultracold collisions of polar molecules confined in a one
dimensional optical lattice. Using a quantum scattering formalism and a frame
transformation method, we calculate elastic and chemical quenching rate
constants for fermionic molecules. Taking KRb molecules as a prototype, we find
that the rate of quenching collisions is enhanced at zero electric field as the
confinement is increased, but that this rate is suppressed when the electric
field is turned on. For molecules with 500 nK of collision energy, for
realistic molecular densities, and for achievable experimental electric fields
and trap confinements, we predict lifetimes of KRb molecules of 1 s. We find a
ratio of elastic to quenching collision rates of about 100, which may be
sufficient to achieve efficient experimental evaporative cooling of polar KRb
molecules.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
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