Events at Physics |
Here we report on the experimental observation of the Rb(5S)-Rb(nS) dimer in a dense cloud of magnetically trapped Rubidium. The excitation spectra show the ground state and vibrationally excited states as well as trimer states, where two ground state atoms are bound to one Rydberg atom in a three body photoassociation process. The measured binding energies coincide with theoretical calculations taking into account s- and p-wave scattering. Lifetime measurements for the pure Rydberg state and the molecular dimer state show a decreased lifetime of the molecular state. Decay channels for the molecules are discussed. The coherent excitation dynamics of the dimer and the Rydberg state are studied in rotary echo experiments.