Physicists at JILA have made their "quantum crystal" of ultracold molecules more valuable than ever by packing about five times more molecules into it. The denser crystal will help scientists unlock the secrets of magnets and other, more exotic materials.
The crystal is actually a gas of particles trapped in 3-D formation by laser beams. The trap, called an optical lattice, has wells—local regions of low energy—like an egg carton made of light. The researchers maneuvered a single molecule into each well, successfully filling about 25 percent of the crystal. The structure has an advantage over a real crystal, as it is made of scientifically interesting molecules that normally would not crystallize.
The JILA crystal is useful for studying correlations among the molecules' "spins," or rotations, a quantum behavior related to magnetism. The denser crystal will enable scientists to study and model complex effects such as how spin correlations or entanglement—a quantum link between the properties of separated particles—spread through a large system. Scientists might use these effects, for example, to make novel materials for electronics or other applications.
JILA is operated jointly by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado Boulder.
"The density in the crystal is now high enough to introduce long-range order, so the molecules behave as an interconnected system instead of just a collection of isolated particles," JILA/NIST Fellow Jun Ye says. "The molecules are close enough to each other for their spins to migrate and relocate to other molecules, allowing us to investigate quantum connections of many particles that may lead to new materials."
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Scientists create JILA’s quantum crystal by precisely overlapping two dense gases of ultracold potassium and rubidium atoms (left) to produce molecules that form an interconnected system (right), in which "spin" properties can migrate between molecules. The crystal could lead to development of new materials.
Image credit: Steven Burrows and Ye/Jin groups/JILA
Arxiv - Creation of a low-entropy quantum gas of polar molecules in an optical lattice (8 pages)
Journal Science - Creation of a low-entropy quantum gas of polar molecules in an optical lattice
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The crystal is actually a gas of particles trapped in 3-D formation by laser beams. The trap, called an optical lattice, has wells—local regions of low energy—like an egg carton made of light. The researchers maneuvered a single molecule into each well, successfully filling about 25 percent of the crystal. The structure has an advantage over a real crystal, as it is made of scientifically interesting molecules that normally would not crystallize.
The JILA crystal is useful for studying correlations among the molecules' "spins," or rotations, a quantum behavior related to magnetism. The denser crystal will enable scientists to study and model complex effects such as how spin correlations or entanglement—a quantum link between the properties of separated particles—spread through a large system. Scientists might use these effects, for example, to make novel materials for electronics or other applications.
JILA is operated jointly by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado Boulder.
"The density in the crystal is now high enough to introduce long-range order, so the molecules behave as an interconnected system instead of just a collection of isolated particles," JILA/NIST Fellow Jun Ye says. "The molecules are close enough to each other for their spins to migrate and relocate to other molecules, allowing us to investigate quantum connections of many particles that may lead to new materials."
Scientists create JILA’s quantum crystal by precisely overlapping two dense gases of ultracold potassium and rubidium atoms (left) to produce molecules that form an interconnected system (right), in which "spin" properties can migrate between molecules. The crystal could lead to development of new materials.
Image credit: Steven Burrows and Ye/Jin groups/JILA
Arxiv - Creation of a low-entropy quantum gas of polar molecules in an optical lattice (8 pages)
Journal Science - Creation of a low-entropy quantum gas of polar molecules in an optical lattice
Read more »
