A degenerate Fermi gas of polar molecules
Abstract
A dilute atomic gas cooled down to very cold temperatures can enter the so-called quantum degenerate regime, where quantum properties of the gas come to the fore. This regime has been achieved for both bosonic and fermionic atoms, but molecules, with their many internal states, present a special challenge. De Marco et al. cooled a bulk gas of fermionic potassium-rubidium molecules to quantum degeneracy (see the Perspective by Zelevinsky). The authors first cooled atomic potassium and rubidium gases separately, then bound them together into potassium-rubidium molecules, and finally brought the molecules down to their ground state. The density profile of the molecular gas revealed the system's quantum nature, which in turn kept the gas stable by suppressing chemical reactions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Feb 22, 2019
- Source ID
- 10.1126/science.aau7230
Entities
People
- Giacomo Valtolina
- Jacob P Covey
- Jun Ye
- Kyle Matsuda
- Luigi De Marco
- William Tobias
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Army Research Office
- National Institute of Standards and Technology
- National Science Foundation
- University of Colorado