Formation of stable ultracold molecules by photoassociation with chirped laser pulses

We investigate photoassociation of ultracold atoms, such as Cs(6s), with chirped laser pulses in the ps range. Numerical calculations are analyzed, demonstrating efficient population inversion within a photoassociation window. Stabilization of the photoassociated molecules into bound levels of the ground state is discussed. Ongoing work on photoassociation of rubidium with femtosecond pulses will be presented at the conference.