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Ultracold molecules

The coldest polar region

Nature Physics volume 4, pages 911–912 (2008)Cite this article

Polar diatomic molecules, consisting of potassium and rubidium, have been created with density and temperature close to the regime of quantum degeneracy.

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. Cooled molecules open up a new realm of physics as a result of their complex internal structure, which gives rise to the rotational and vibrational motions that are absent in atoms. However, this same complexity has made it difficult to cool molecules to the ultracold regime. Now, Kang-Kuen Ni and co-workers1 have created a gas of diatomic molecules that is ultracold in all its degrees of freedom, both translational and internal. The sample of polar molecules is at a temperature and density near the conditions for quantum degeneracy. Possible applications are in areas as diverse as quantum simulation of strongly correlated systems, quantum information processing, quantum chemistry and precision measurements.

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Figure 1: The formation process for ultracold KRb molecules, now demonstrated by Ni et al.1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physics Department, Yale University, New Haven, 06520, Connecticut, USA

    David DeMille

  2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, 90095, California, USA

    Eric R. Hudson

Authors
  1. David DeMille
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  2. Eric R. Hudson
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DeMille, D., Hudson, E. The coldest polar region. Nature Phys 4, 911–912 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1147

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