Alignment of D-State Rydberg Molecules

We report on the formation of ultralong-range Rydberg D-state molecules via photoassociation in an ultracold cloud of rubidium atoms. By applying a magnetic offset field on the order of 10 G and high resolution spectroscopy, we are able to resolve individual rovibrational molecular states. A full theory, using a Fermi pseudopotential approach including s- and p- wave scattering terms, reproduces the measured binding energies. The calculated molecular wave functions show that in the experiment we can selectively excite stationary molecular states with an extraordinary degree of alignment or antialignment with respect to the magnetic field axis.