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Physical Measurement Laboratory

Quantum Measurement Division

News and Updates

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NIST Physicists Turn to Radio Dial for Finer Atomic Matchmaking

October 20, 2009

Investigating mysterious data in ultracold gases of rubidium atoms, scientists at the Joint Quantum Institute of the National Institute of Standards and...

Webinars on Planning for Smart Grid Panel Announced

October 6, 2009

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will hold three one-hour "webinars" to brief the diverse Smart Grid community on its progress toward...

Image showing use of the NIST "on-demand" single-molecule drop dispenser

New Nanochemistry Technique Encases Single Molecules in Microdroplets

September 22, 2009

Inventing a useful new tool for creating chemical reactions between single molecules, scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)...

illustration of nitrogen vacancy within a diamond crystal

Diamonds May Be the Ultimate MRI Probe, Say Quantum Physicists

September 22, 2009

Diamonds, it has long been said, are a girl's best friend. But a research team including a physicist from the National Institute of Standards and Technology...

Illustration showing how much smaller sodium-like tungsten ions are compared to sodium atoms.

High in Sodium: Highly Charged Tungsten Ions May Diagnose Fusion Energy Reactors

September 8, 2009

Just as health-food manufacturers work on developing the best possible sodium substitutes for low-salt diets, physicists at the National Institute of Standards...

NIST Physicist Cited as 'Federal Player of the Week'

July 28, 2009

NIST physicist Ian Spielman has been profiled at washingtonpost.com as " This Week's Federal Player", a regular feature created by the Washington Post Web site...

X Marks the Spot: Ions Coldly Go Through NIST Trap Junction

April 7, 2009

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated a new ion trap that enables ions to go through an intersection while...

Flatland Physics Probes Mysteries of Superfluidity

March 24, 2009

If physicists lived in Flatland—the fictional two-dimensional world invented by Edwin Abbott in his 1884 novel—some of their quantum physics experiments would...

Researchers Demonstrate Novel 'Quantum Data Buffering' Scheme

February 24, 2009

In a new demonstration of physicists' growing ability to control the "spooky" quantum dynamics phenomenon called entanglement, researchers from the National...

"Dressed" Rubidium Atoms May Reveal Clues for Exotic Computing

February 24, 2009

Neutral atoms—having no net electric charge—usually don't act very dramatically around a magnetic field. But by "dressing them up" with light, researchers at...

NIST/Maryland Researchers Demonstrate 'Quantum Data Buffering' Scheme

February 12, 2009

GAITHERSBURG, Md.—Pushing the envelope of Albert Einstein's "spooky action at a distance," known as entanglement, researchers at the Joint Quantum Institute...

Simply Weird Stuff: Making Supersolids with Ultracold Gas Atoms

January 13, 2009

Physicists at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Maryland have proposed a...

'Femtomolar Optical Tweezers' May Enable Sensitive Blood Tests

November 12, 2008

Cutting-edge "tweezers" are so sensitive that they can feel the tell-tale tug of tiny concentrations of pathogens in blood samples, yet don't ever need to be...

NSF Physics Frontier Center Created at Joint Quantum Institute

September 16, 2008

The National Science Foundation has awarded the Joint Quantum Institute $12.5 million over five years to create and operate a Physics Frontier Center (PFC) at...

Light Touch: Controlling the Behavior of Quantum Dots

August 19, 2008

Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI), a collaborative center of the University of...

In this photo montage of actual quantum images, two laser beams coming from the bright glare in the distance transmit images of a cat-like face at two slightly different frequencies

Physicists Produce Quantum-Entangled Images

June 12, 2008

GAITHERSBURG, MD—Using a convenient and flexible method for creating twin light beams, researchers at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) of the Commerce...

High-Flying Electrons May Provide New Test of Quantum Theory

April 29, 2008

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Max Planck Institute for Physics in Germany believe they can achieve a significant...

Stunt Doubles: Ultracold Atoms Could Replicate the Electron 'Jitterbug'

March 18, 2008

Ultracold atoms moving through a carefully designed arrangement of laser beams will jiggle slightly as they go, two NIST scientists have predicted.* If observed...

A Sub-femtosecond Stop Watch for 'Photon Finish' Races

March 14, 2008

Using a system that can compare the travel times of two photons with sub-femtosecond precision, scientists at the Joint Quantum Institute (a partnership of the...

NIST Announces First Observation of 'Persistent Flow' in a Gas

November 27, 2007

Using laser light to stir an ultracold gas of atoms, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Joint Quantum Institute...

NIST Physicist Honored for Measuring Forces between Ultra-cool Atoms

October 25, 2007

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has named NIST physicist Paul D. Lett as one of its new fellows. AAAS cites Lett for his work in...

'Dead Time' Limits Quantum Cryptography Speeds

September 27, 2007

Quantum cryptography is potentially the most secure method of sending encrypted information, but does it have a speed limit? According to a new paper by...

New NIST Calibration Service 'Arms' Phasors for More Reliable Power Grids

August 16, 2007

While the new calibration service for phasor measurement units (PMUs) offered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) sounds like it would...

Black background. Blue structure that looks like an egg carton with red and yellow globes in each pocket

Thousands of Atoms Swap 'Spins' with Partners in Quantum Square Dance

July 25, 2007

GAITHERSBURG, MD—Physicists at the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have induced thousands of atoms trapped by laser...

'Tornadoes' Are Transferred From Light to Sodium Atoms

November 9, 2006

For the first time, tornado-like rotational motions have been transferred from light to atoms in a controlled way at the National Institute of Standards and...

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