Scientists at JILA, a joint institute of NIST and the University of Colorado Boulder, have created a denser quantum crystal made of ultracold potassium-rubidium molecules. The crystal, formed in an optical lattice of laser light, now contains about five times more molecules than previous versions, enabling researchers to study quantum correlations and entanglement in a larger interconnected system.
The denser crystal allows scientists to investigate how spin properties migrate between molecules and spread through the system. This could lead to the development of new materials with novel electronic properties. The molecules in the crystal are polar, allowing them to interact strongly even when far apart, which is crucial for studying their collective behavior.
The creation of this quantum crystal involved precisely overlapping two atomic gases of rubidium and potassium, then using magnetic fields and lasers to fuse the atom pairs into molecules. The research was funded by NIST, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Army Research Office, and National Science Foundation.
Source: https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2015/11/its-beauty-jilas-quantum-crystal-now-more-valuable
Keywords: Ultracold, Molecules, Entanglement, Spin, Lattice
