Quantum ‘Super Molecule’ Created

July 3, 2003 | Source: KurzweilAI

Scientists at NIST have taken an important step toward creating a “super molecule,” a blend of thousands of molecules acting in unison that would provide physicists with an excellent tool for studying molecular quantum mechanics and superconductivity.

The experiment, conducted at 150 nanoKelvin above absolute zero, may lead to creation of fermion superfluids made from gases that would be much easier to study than solid superconductors.

The researchers succeeded in changing individual potassium atoms belonging to a class of particles called fermions into molecules that are part of a fundamentally different class of particles known as bosons, resulting in the creation of over a quarter of a million molecules.

The work is reported in the July 3 edition of the journal Nature.

NIST press release