A Homonuclear Molecule with a Permanent Electric Dipole Moment

作者：Weibin Li, Thomas Pohl, Jan Michael Rost, Seth T. Rittenhouse, H. R. Sadeghpour, J. Nipper, Björn Butscher, Jonathan Balewski, Vera Bendkowsky, R. Löw, Tilman Pfau · 发表于：Science · 年份：2011 · DOI：10.1126/science.1211255 · 被引用次数：158 · 研究领域：Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates、Advanced Chemical Physics Studies、Quantum, superfluid, helium dynamics

Permanent electric dipole moments in molecules require a breaking of parity symmetry. Conventionally, this symmetry breaking relies on the presence of heteronuclear constituents. We report the observation of a permanent electric dipole moment in a homonuclear molecule in which the binding is based on asymmetric electronic excitation between the atoms. These exotic molecules consist of a ground-state rubidium (Rb) atom bound inside a second Rb atom electronically excited to a high-lying Rydberg state. Detailed calculations predict appreciable dipole moments on the order of 1 Debye, in excellent agreement with the observations.