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Bose-Einstein condensation

Making it with molecules

Nature volume 417, pages 493–494 (2002)Cite this article

Following the creation of atomic Bose–Einstein condensates in the mid-1990s, a major goal has been to produce a condensate of molecules. Technical challenges remain, but that achievement is now tantalizingly close.

Some atoms can undergo a phase transition at ultralow temperatures to form a Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) — an extraordinary quantum phase of matter, in which all atoms pile up in the same quantum state. The heavier the atom species, the lower the temperature at which the condensation occurs. So can heavy particles, such as molecules, still be condensed? Moreover, molecules are composite objects with complex internal structure, which raises a serious conceptual question about whether a stable molecular condensate could ever exist.

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Figure 1: Towards a molecular Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. on leave from the University of Innsbruck, Austria

    Peter Zoller

  2. the Institut für Quantenoptik, University of Hannover, Welfengarten 1, D-30167, Hannover, Germany

    Peter Zoller

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  1. Peter Zoller
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Correspondence to Peter Zoller.

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Zoller, P. Making it with molecules. Nature 417, 493–494 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/417493a

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