  We have observed short-range photoassociation of LiRb to the two lowest
vibrational states of the $d\,^3\Pi$ potential. These $d\,^3\Pi$ molecules then
spontaneously decay to vibrational levels of the $a^3\,\Sigma^+$ state with
generation rates of $\sim10^3$ molecules per second. This is the first
observation of many of these $a\,^3\Sigma^+$ levels. We observe an alternation
of the peak heights in the rotational photoassociation spectrum that suggests a
$p$-wave shape resonance in the scattering state. Franck-Condon overlap
calculations predict that photoassociation to higher vibrational levels of the
$d\,^3\Pi$, in particular the sixth vibrational level, should populate the
lowest vibrational level of the $a\,^3\Sigma^+$ state with a rate as high as
$10^4$ molecules per second. These results encourage further work to explain
our observed LiRb collisional physics using PECs. This work also motivates an
experimental search for short-range photoassociation to other bound molecules,
such as the $c\,^3\Sigma^+$ or $b\,^3\Pi$, as prospects for preparing
ground-state molecules.
