Cavity-based nondestructive detection of photoassociation in a dark magneto-optical trap

The photoassociation (PA) of a rubidium dimer in a dark magneto-optical trap (MOT) is studied using atom-cavity collective strong coupling. This allows nondestructive detection of the molecule formation process as well as rapid and repeated interrogation of the atom-molecule system. The vacuum Rabi splitting (VRS) measurements from the bright MOT are carefully calibrated against equivalent measurements with fluorescence. Further loading rates in the dark MOT are determined using VRS. This method provides a reliable, fast, and nondestructive detection scheme for detecting the PA using the free atoms coupled to a cavity when the atoms are in a nonfluorescing state.