近日，美国哥伦比亚大学Will, Sebastian团队报道了超冷偶极分子自结合液滴的观测。2026年3月18日出版的《自然》杂志发表了这项成果。

长期以来，极性分子的超冷气体一直被视为实现新型量子相的平台。近年来，通过碰撞屏蔽技术保护分子免受非弹性损失，研究组已成功制备出简并费米气体，并最近实现了极性分子的玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚。然而，由偶极-偶极相互作用驱动的超冷分子气体中的量子相至今仍未观测到。

研究组报道了在强极性钠-铯分子超冷气体中自束缚液滴及液滴阵列的形成。从分子玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚体出发，利用微波修饰场诱导产生强度与各向异性可控的偶极-偶极相互作用。通过将相互作用诱导速率在四个数量级的动态范围内进行调节，研究组在平衡与非平衡条件下制备了液滴，并观察到从稳健的一维阵列到涨落二维结构的转变。这些液滴的密度最高可达初始玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚体的100倍，进入强相互作用区间，暗示着量子液体或晶体态的存在可能。该工作将超冷分子确立为探索强偶极量子物质的研究平台，并为在光晶格中实现自组织晶体相及偶极自旋液体开辟了道路。

附：英文原文

Title: Observation of self-bound droplets of ultracold dipolar molecules

Author: Zhang, Siwei, Yuan, Weijun, Bigagli, Niccol, Kwak, Haneul, Karman, Tijs, Stevenson, Ian, Will, Sebastian

Issue&Volume: 2026-03-18

Abstract: Ultracold gases of dipolar molecules have long been envisioned as a platform for the realization of novel quantum phases1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. Recent advances in collisional shielding9,10,11,12, protecting molecules from inelastic losses, have enabled the creation of degenerate Fermi gases13,14,15 and, more recently, Bose–Einstein condensation of dipolar molecules16. However, the observation of quantum phases in ultracold molecular gases that are driven by dipole–dipole interactions has so far remained elusive. Here we report the formation of self-bound droplets and droplet arrays in an ultracold gas of strongly dipolar sodium–caesium molecules. Starting from a molecular Bose–Einstein condensate, microwave dressing fields are used to induce dipole–dipole interactions with controllable strength and anisotropy. By varying the speed at which interactions are induced, covering a dynamic range of four orders of magnitude, we prepare droplets under equilibrium and non-equilibrium conditions, observing a transition from robust one-dimensional arrays to fluctuating two-dimensional structures. The droplets show densities up to 100 times higher than the initial Bose–Einstein condensate, reaching the strongly interacting regime and suggesting the possibility of a quantum-liquid or crystalline state9,17. This work establishes ultracold molecules as a system for the exploration of strongly dipolar quantum matter and opens the door to the realization of self-organized crystal phases3,9,18 and dipolar spin liquids in optical lattices19.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10245-9

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10245-9