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Updated: Jul 16, 2026

Compact Quantum Dots for Single-molecule Imaging
Published on: October 9, 2012
Preparation of a pure molecular quantum gas
Jens Herbig1, Tobias Kraemer, Michael Mark
1Institut für Experimentalphysik, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstrabetae 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
Abstract:
An ultracold molecular quantum gas is created by application of a magnetic field sweep across a Feshbach resonance to a Bose-Einstein condensate of cesium atoms. The ability to separate the molecules from the atoms permits direct imaging of the pure molecular sample. Magnetic levitation enables study of the dynamics of the ensemble on extended time scales. We measured ultralow expansion energies in the range of a few nanokelvin for a sample of 3000 molecules. Our observations are consistent with the presence of a macroscopic molecular matter wave.
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