Scientists measured the binding state of light and matter for the first time
A molecule of light and matter.
BY
PRANJAL MEHAR
AUGUST 2, 2022 17:11 IST
The atoms are polarized by the beam of light and start to attract each other. © Harald Ritsch / TU Wien
Through a laser beam, the polarization of atoms is possible so that they can become positively charged on one side and negatively charged on the other. As a result, they are drawn to one another, creating a unique bonding state that is significantly weaker than the link between two atoms in a specific molecule but yet quantifiable. The laser beam, which can be thought of as a “molecule” of light and matter, in a way gives the polarised atoms the power to attract one another.
This phenomenon has long been anticipated theoretically, but researchers at the University of Innsbruck and the Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology (VCQ) at TU Wien have now achieved the first measurement of this unusual atomic connection. They created a very special bonding state between atoms in the laboratory for the first time. This interaction can be used to manipulate very cold atoms and may also impact how molecules form in space.
Prof. Philipp Haslinger, whose research at the Atominstitut at TU Wien is supported by the FWF START program, said, “In an electrically neutral atom, a positively charged atomic nucleus is surrounded by negatively charged electrons, which surround the atomic nucleus much like a cloud. If you now switch on an external electric field, this charge distribution shifts a little.”
“The positive charge is shifted slightly in one direction, the negative charge slightly in the other direction, the atom suddenly has a positive and a negative side, polarised.”
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