Relativistic artificial molecules with tunable coupling and orbitals

In a molecule formed by two atoms, energy difference between bonding and antibonding orbitals should depend on distance of the two atoms. However, exploring molecular orbitals of two natural atoms with tunable distance has remained an outstanding experimental challenge. Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) can be viewed as relativistic artificial atoms, therefore, offering a unique platform to study molecular physics. Here, through scanning tunneling microscope (STM), we create and directly visualize the formation process of relativistic artificial molecules based on two coupled GQDs with tunable distance. Our study indicates that energy difference between the bonding and antibonding orbitals of the lowest quasibound state increases linearly with inverse distance of the two GQDs due to the relativistic nature of the artificial molecule. For quasibound states with higher orbital momenta, the coupling between these states leads to half-energy spacing of the confined states because the length of the molecular-like orbit is about twice that of the atomic-like orbit. Evolution from ring-like whispering-gallery modes in the artificial atoms to figure-eight orbitals in the artificial molecules is directly imaged. The ability to resolve the coupling and orbitals of the relativistic artificial molecule at the nanoscale level yields insights into the behavior of quantum-relativistic matter.