5. Physikalisches Institut and Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology, Universität Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany.
Nature. 2022 May;605(7910):453-456. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04577-5. Epub 2022 May 18.
Atoms with a highly excited electron, called Rydberg atoms, can form unusual types of molecular bonds. The bonds differ from the well-known ionic and covalent bonds not only by their binding mechanisms, but also by their bond lengths ranging up to several micrometres. Here we observe a new type of molecular ion based on the interaction between the ionic charge and a flipping-induced dipole of a Rydberg atom with a bond length of several micrometres. We measure the vibrational spectrum and spatially resolve the bond length and the angular alignment of the molecule using a high-resolution ion microscope. As a consequence of the large bond length, the molecular dynamics is extremely slow. These results pave the way for future studies of spatio-temporal effects in molecular dynamics (for example, beyond Born-Oppenheimer physics).
具有高度激发电子的原子，称为里德伯原子，可以形成不同寻常类型的分子键。这些键不仅在结合机制上与众所周知的离子键和共价键不同，而且在键长上也可以达到数微米。在这里，我们观察到一种新型的分子离子，它基于离子电荷与里德伯原子翻转诱导偶极子之间的相互作用，其键长可达数微米。我们使用高分辨率离子显微镜测量了振动光谱，并对分子的键长和角向排列进行了空间分辨。由于键长很大，分子动力学极其缓慢。这些结果为未来研究分子动力学中的时空效应（例如，超越玻恩-奥本海默物理）铺平了道路。
