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Rydberg molecules

The making and breaking of bonds

Rydberg molecules, which consist of one atom in its electronic ground state and one in a highly excited state, can extend to the size of a virus. But size is only one oddity of these molecules. As has now been demonstrated, the chemical bond that holds the atoms together in this fragile molecule can be coherently controlled using laser light.

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Figure 1: Reversible binding.

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Browaeys, A., Pillet, P. The making and breaking of bonds. Nature Phys 6, 941–942 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1877

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