Observation of Spin-Singlet Butterfly Rydberg Molecules in an Ultracold Atomic Rb Gas.

Authors

Markus Exner, Rohan Srikumar, Richard Blättner, Peter Schmelcher, H R Sadeghpour, Matthew T Eiles, Herwig Ott

Published in

Physical review letters. Volume 136. Issue 24. Pages 243002. Jun 19, 2026.

Abstract

We report the observation of spin-singlet ultralong-range Rydberg butterfly molecules consisting of a ground-state atom bound to a Rydberg atom by P-wave scattering of ^{87}Rb Rydberg electrons from ^{87}Rb(5  s) atoms. A three-photon excitation scheme enables the photoassociation of these molecules by weakly admixing Rb(18f_{7/2}) states. The measured binding energies, kilo-Debye permanent electric dipole moments, and lifetimes are in excellent agreement with theory. Two long-lived vibrational levels, red detuned from the Rb(18f_{7/2}) threshold, are observed. This experiment is a foundational step in the production of ultracold anions and heavy Rydberg ion-pair systems.

PMID:
42412460
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 07 Jul 2026.

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