Studying chemical reactions below one micro-Kelvin

Chemical reactions at ultralow temperatures provide an ideal platform for studying quantum effects in chemistry. Our goal is to understand how the various quantum degrees of freedom of reactant atoms and molecules govern the behavior of molecule-molecule and atom-molecule collisions. To do this, we create ultracold KRb molecules in well-controlled quantum states within the rovibronic ground state at temperatures below one micro-Kelvin, and detect both reaction intermediates and products using quantum-state-selective ionization and coincidence ion imaging. In this poster, we discuss our measurements which map out the full product state distribution for the reaction 2KRb-> K₂+Rb₂, and which show that the quantum states of reaction outcomes can be controlled via the reactant nuclear spins. We also present recent results which examine KRb+Rb collisions.