Formation of ultracold polar molecules in a single quantum state

We compute the formation rate of a polar molecule, LiH, into the lowest triplet electronic state, a3Σ⁺, via population of the intermediate excited electronic state, b3Π, followed by radiative decay. We find large formation rates into the single rovibrational bound state (v=0,J=0) of the a3Σ⁺, which can be explained by the unusually large overlap of its wave function with those of the two upper-most bound levels of the b3Π. With conservative parameters, we estimate that over 104 molecules/s could be produced in the single rovibrational level of the a3Σ⁺ state. We also discuss scattering properties of LiH triplet molecules and their relevance to ultracold chemical reactions.