Observation of pendular butterfly Rydberg molecules

Nat Commun. 2016 Oct 5:7:12820. doi: 10.1038/ncomms12820.

Abstract

Engineering molecules with a tunable bond length and defined quantum states lies at the heart of quantum chemistry. The unconventional binding mechanism of Rydberg molecules makes them a promising candidate to implement such tunable molecules. A very peculiar type of Rydberg molecules are the so-called butterfly molecules, which are bound by a shape resonance in the electron-perturber scattering. Here we report the observation of these exotic molecules and employ their exceptional properties to engineer their bond length, vibrational state, angular momentum and orientation in a small electric field. Combining the variable bond length with their giant dipole moment of several hundred Debye, we observe counter-intuitive molecules which locate the average electron position beyond the internuclear distance.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Electricity
  • Electrons*
  • Engineering
  • Light
  • Magnetics
  • Models, Statistical
  • Motion
  • Photons
  • Quantum Theory*
  • Rotation
  • Spectrophotometry
  • Vibration