Optimal Control of Cold Ground-State Collisions by Shaped Laser Pulses

This works investigates the optimal laser control of the electronic ground-state collision of two cold atoms of distinct species. The control goal is to perform the photoassociation of the colliding pair of atoms along with the vibrational–rotational stabilization of the diatomic molecule taking advantage of the permanent dipole moment associated with the collision. Calculations are performed within a model system for the electronic ground state of Li+Cs. It is shown that an optimized laser pulse can induce the transition from the free state to the molecular rotational–vibrational ground state with high efficiency.