  We report on the observation of blue-detuned photoassociation in Rb2, in
which vibrational levels are energetically above the corresponding excited
atomic asymptote. 85Rb atoms in a MOT were photoassociated at short
internuclear distances to levels of the (1)3Pi g state at a rate of
approximately 5x10^4 molecules/s. We have observed most of the predicted
vibrational levels for all four spin-orbit components 0g+, 0g-, 1g, and 2g,
including levels of the 0g+ outer well. These molecules decay to the metastable
a3Sigma u+ state, some preferentially to the v"=0 level, as we have observed
for photoassociation to the v'=8 level of the 1g component.
