Abstract

Coherent conversion of an atomic to a molecular Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) is a first step towards'superchemistry’,¹ which is the atom optics analog of frequency conversion in nonlinear optics. A number of studies of this have shown that direct conversion via Raman photo-association appears feasible,² based on stimulated free- bound and bound-bound transitions in the presence of two laser fields ${\text{E}}^{\left(2\right)}={\text{E}}_0^{\left(1\right)}\cos \left({\text{ω}}^{\left(1\right)}t\right)$ and ${\text{E}}^{\left(2\right)}={\text{E}}_0^{\left(2\right)}\cos \left({\text{ω}}^{\left(2\right)}t\right).$ Here pairs of atoms from the two-atom continuum are transferred—via an excited bound molecular state—to a bound molecular state of lower energy.

© 2001 Optical Society of America