  We present excitation energy spectra of few-electron vertically coupled
quantum dots for strong and intermediate inter-dot coupling. By applying a
magnetic field, we induce ground state transitions and identify the
corresponding quantum numbers by comparison with few-body calculations. In
addition to atomic-like states, we find novel "molecular-like" phases. The
isospin index characterizes the nature of the bond of the artificial molecule
and this we control. Like spin in a single quantum dot, transitions in isospin
leading to full polarization are observed with increasing magnetic field.
