Photoassociation spectroscopy of ultra-cold long-range molecules

Spectroscopic study of so-called long-range molecules, with average interatomic distances much larger than usual for chemical bonds, is conveniently performed by photoassociation (PA) of ultracold atoms. We present here a review of our results obtained by one and two-photon PA spectroscopy of the Cs2 molecule, using as intermediate the 0g− and 1u potentials correlated to the (6s+6p3/2) asymptote. These results have been interpreted using an asymptotic theoretical approach, which was specifically build for such long-range molecules. To cite this article: N. Vanhaecke et al., C. R. Physique 5 (2004).