Abstract
We have observed Bose-Einstein condensation of molecules. When a spin mixture of fermionic atoms was evaporatively cooled in an optical dipole trap near a Feshbach resonance, the atomic gas was converted into molecules. Below 600 nK, a Bose-Einstein condensate of up to 900 000 molecules was identified by the sudden onset of a bimodal density distribution. This condensate realizes the limit of tightly bound fermion pairs in the crossover between BCS superfluidity and Bose-Einstein condensation.
- Received 27 November 2003
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.250401
©2003 American Physical Society