Two-color photoassociation spectroscopy of ytterbium atoms and the precise determinations of $s$-wave scattering lengths
Masaaki Kitagawa, Katsunari Enomoto, Kentaro Kasa, Yoshiro Takahashi, Roman Ciury{\l}o, Pascal Naidon, and Paul S. Julienne

By performing high-resolution two-color photoassociation spectroscopy, we have successfully determined the binding energies of several of the last bound states of the homonuclear dimers of six different isotopes of ytterbium. These spectroscopic data are in excellent agreement with theoretical calculations based on a simple model potential, which very precisely predicts the $s$-wave scattering lengths of all 28 pairs of the seven stable isotopes. The $s$-wave scattering lengths for collision of two atoms of the same isotopic species are $13.33(18)$ nm for $^{168}$Yb, $3.38(11)$ nm for $^{170}$Yb, $-0.15(19)$ nm for $^{171}$Yb, $-31.7(3.4)$ nm for $^{172}$Yb, $10.55(11)$ nm for $^{173}$Yb, $5.55(8)$ nm for $^{174}$Yb, and $-1.28(23)$ nm for $^{176}$Yb. The coefficient of the lead term of the long-range van der Waals potential of the Yb$_2$ molecule is $C_6=1932(30)$ atomic units $(E_h a_0^6 \approx 9.573 \times 10^{-26}$ J nm$^6$).

© 2008 The American Physical Society.