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Physical Measurement Laboratory

Quantum Measurement Division

News and Updates

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Martzloff Cited for Lifetime Achievement by IEEE Standards Association

December 12, 2012

If you've ever had your house lights flicker alarmingly during a bad electrical storm but found that your prized home computing network survived just fine, you

'Magic Zero' Technique Reduces Atomic Clock Uncertainty

December 5, 2012

Scientists from a PML- Joint Quantum Institute (JQI)* group have devised and demonstrated a novel method** for making the most precise measurements to date of

NIST – VA Agreement Leads to New Research on Hearing Aids

November 30, 2012

Randy Wagner and the rest of the Acoustics Team in PML's Semiconductor and Dimensional Metrology Division are planning new research directions as they celebrate

NIST Experiments Challenge Fundamental Understanding of Electromagnetism

November 27, 2012

A cornerstone of physics may require a rethink if findings at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are confirmed. Recent experiments

Enriched Silicon: Going for Four Nines

November 20, 2012

Any eventual quantum computer, no matter how it may be configured, will need a way to store and manipulate information in qubits – the quantum counterpart of a

A green laser beam rotates around the toroidal BEC, acting as a sort of "optical paddle."

The First Controllable Atom SQUID

November 2, 2012

Scientists have created the first controllable atomic circuit that functions analogously to a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) and allows

Princeton/NIST Collaboration Puts Wheels on the Quantum Bus

October 19, 2012

In yet another step toward the realization of a practical quantum computer, scientists working at Princeton and the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) have shown how

Schematic diagram of loophole-free Bell test

Truly Random Numbers — But Not by Chance

October 1, 2012

Life can seem haphazard and chaotic, but true randomness is fundamentally mysterious, elusive, and remarkably difficult to observe. If it can be realized and

Jacob Taylor, NIST Physicist, Receives Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal for Public Service

September 14, 2012

On September 13, 2012, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) physicist Jacob Taylor received a Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal

Disseminating the Kilogram, No Strings Attached

August 24, 2012

The impending redefinition of the kilogram presents a weighty dilemma. Methods to be used to realize the redefined kilogram are based on the Planck constant and

This short movie shows the image of the 'N' in NIST being randomly amplified and de-amplified by the four-wave mixing technique.

Seeing the Light with NIST's New Noiseless Optical Amplifier

August 8, 2012

Most devices that amplify light suffer from the same problem: making the image brighter also adds muddying distortion. Scientists working at the National

A close-up photo of the center of the experimental set-up. The small transparent chamber that holds the ultracold rubidium atoms is surrounded by a dotted line.

Simulating Superconductors with a Touch of Disorder

July 26, 2012

Since their discovery in 1986, high-temperature (high-Tc) superconductors have been the subject of intense interest to researchers. But the mechanism behind the

illustration of pseudomagnetic fields that confine grahene's electrons and create quntized quantum dot-like energy levels

'Tuning' Graphene Drums Might Turn Conductors to Semiconductors

June 27, 2012

Tightening or relaxing the tension on a drumhead will change the way the drum sounds. The same goes for drumheads made from graphene, only instead of changing

Graphene Drumheads Tuned to Make Quantum Dots

June 21, 2012

Tightening or relaxing the tension on a drumhead will change the way the drum sounds. The same goes for drumheads made from graphene, only instead of changing

First Observation of the Hall Effect in a Bose-Einstein Condensate

June 19, 2012

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers have observed for the first time the Hall effect in a gas of ultracold atoms. The Hall effect

First Light: NIST Researchers Develop New Way to Generate Superluminal Pulses

May 2, 2012

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a novel way of producing light pulses that are "superluminal"—in some

Schematic diagram of the fast light experiment.

First, Fast, and Faster

April 6, 2012

Scientists in PML's Quantum Measurement Division have produced the first superluminal light pulses made by using a technique called four-wave mixing, creating

The 2012 participants, from left: David Newell of PML, Jacques Liard of NRCan, Dave Inglis of NRS, Jason Silliker of NRCan, and Mark Eckl of NOAA.

The Great Gravity Showdown

February 27, 2012

During the week of February 6-10, 2012, some extremely weighty matters were in progress at NIST's non-magnetic facility, where PML researchers hosted an

Cool Nano Loudspeakers Could Make for Better MRIs, Quantum Computers

January 24, 2012

A team of physicists from the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI), the Neils Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Harvard University has developed a theory

NIST Requests Funding Proposals for Projects in Precision Measurement

December 6, 2011

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is soliciting proposals for the next round of funding in its long-running Precision Measurement Grant

Quantum Computer Components 'Coalesce' to 'Converse'

October 25, 2011

If quantum computers are ever to be realized, they likely will be made of different types of parts that will need to share information with one another, just

NIST/JQI Researcher Ian Spielman to Receive 2011 Junior BEC Award

August 30, 2011

Ian Spielman, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and fellow of the Joint Quantum Institute, a collaborative enterprise of

Ion Armageddon: Measuring the Impact Energy of Highly Charged Ions

August 30, 2011

Much like a meteor impacting a planet, highly charged ions hit really hard and can do a lot of damage, albeit on a much smaller scale. And much like geologists

Better 'Photon Loops' May Be Key to Computer and Physics Advances

August 22, 2011

Surprisingly, transmitting information-rich photons thousands of miles through fiber-optic cable is far easier than reliably sending them just a few nanometers

The Constants They Are A Changin': NIST Posts Latest Adjustments to Fundamental Figures

July 19, 2011

The electromagnetic force has gotten a little stronger, gravity a little weaker, and the size of the smallest "quantum" of energy is now known a little better

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