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Nature Physics 4, 911–912 (1 December 2008) | doi:10.1038/nphys1147

Ultracold molecules: The coldest polar region

David DeMille & Eric R. Hudson

The ability to produce ultracold atoms has had a revolutionary impact across many areas of science. An ultracold sample of polar molecules — that is, molecules that when fixed in space possess a net electric dipole moment — promises similar but distinctly different payoffs.