In 2009, a different kind of Rydberg molecule was finally created by researchers from the University of Stuttgart. There, the interaction between a Rydberg atom and a ground state atom leads to a novel bond type. Two rubidium atoms were used to create the molecule which survived for 18 microseconds.
In 2015, a trilobite Rydberg molecule was observed by researchers from the University of Oklahoma. This molecule was theorized in 2000 and is characterized by an electron density distribution that resembles the shape of a trilobite when plotted in cylindrical coordinates. These molecules have lifetimes of tens of microseconds and electric dipole moments of up to 2000 Debye.
In 2016, a butterfly Rydberg molecule was observed by a collaboration involving researchers from the Kaiserslautern University of Technology and Purdue University. A butterfly Rydberg molecule is a weak pairing of a Rydberg atom and a ground state atom that is enhanced by the presence of a shape resonance in the scattering between the Rydberg electron and the ground state atom. This new kind of atomic bond was theorized in 2002 and is characterized by an electron density distribution that resembles the shape of a butterfly. As a consequence of the unconventional binding mechanism, butterfly Rydberg molecules show peculiar properties such as multiple vibrational ground states at different bond lengths and giant dipole moments in excess of 500 debye.