Dipolar quantum gases of heteronuclear molecules in optical lattices

Full text: Dipolar quantum gases promise the realization of novel many-body quantum phases as a result of the long range and anisotropic interaction. For our Rb-Cs mixture experiment the focus is on the creation of a bosonic quantum gas of polar ground-state RbCs molecules using Feshbach association and subsequent stimulated adiabatic Raman transfer (STIRAP). We produce a double Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of Rb and Cs atoms. Our goal is to improve the production of RbCs molecules by performing the Feshbach association and STIRAP transfer in the presence of an optical lattice. We create a Mott-insulator state for the cesium atoms and a separated superfluid rubidium sample. We attach the rubidium atoms to the cesium atoms to achieve precisely one atom of each species per lattice site and perform the Feshbach association and the STIRAP transfer. This scheme prevents three-body loss and thus allows us to maximize the number of RbCs ground-state molecules. (author)