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Physical Measurement Laboratory

Quantum Physics Division

News and Updates

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JILA Extends Laser 'Combing' Method to Identify Large, Complex Molecules

May 4, 2016

BOULDER, Colo. – JILA physicists have extended the capability of their powerful laser "combing" technique to identify the structures of large, complex molecules

Quantum Spin Squeezing Gets Real

February 26, 2016

Today's atomic clocks are ridiculously accurate. The best of them tell time so well that if they had been running since the Big Bang, by now they would not have

Quantum Information Transfer: From Microwaves to Motion to Light

January 28, 2016

When a long-awaited quantum information network finally arrives, in whatever form, it will incorporate two essential technologies: a method of generating and

RFPs: The Best and the Brightest

November 20, 2015

How, precisely, does disease begin and progress in a single cell? To fully understand such processes on the smallest scales, scientists need a way to peer deep

It's a Beauty: JILA's Quantum Crystal is Now More Valuable

November 5, 2015

Physicists at JILA have made their "quantum crystal" of ultracold molecules more valuable than ever by packing about five times more molecules into it. The

JILA instrument for accurately tracking microscopic objects such as DNA molecules

Ultra-stable JILA Microscopy Technique Tracks Tiny Objects for Hours

June 30, 2015

JILA researchers have designed a microscope instrument so stable that it can accurately measure the 3D movement of individual molecules over many hours—hundreds

Getting Better All the Time: JILA Strontium Atomic Clock Sets New Records

April 21, 2015

In another advance at the far frontiers of timekeeping by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers, the latest modification of a record

JILA Team Finds First Direct Evidence of 'Spin Symmetry' In Atoms

August 21, 2014

Just as diamonds with perfect symmetry may be unusually brilliant jewels, the quantum world has a symmetrical splendor of high scientific value.Confirming this

JILA Study Finds Crowding Has Big Effects on Biomolecules

May 20, 2014

Crowding has notoriously negative effects at large size scales, blamed for everything from human disease and depression to community resource shortages. But

No Compromises: JILA's Short, Flexible, Reusable AFM Probe

April 8, 2014

JILA researchers have engineered a short, flexible, reusable probe for the atomic force microscope (AFM) that enables state-of-the-art precision and stability

JILA Physicists Discover 'Quantum Droplet' in Semiconductor

February 26, 2014

JILA physicists used an ultrafast laser and help from German theorists to discover a new semiconductor quasiparticle—a handful of smaller particles that briefly

Deborah Jin standing on the staircase at JILA

JILA/NIST Fellow Deborah Jin to Receive 2014 Comstock Prize in Physics

January 29, 2014

Physicist Deborah Jin of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been named the recipient of the 2014 Comstock Prize in Physics. The

It's About Time—But Also Much More

January 23, 2014

40° 0.435', -105° 16.116'—that's where I work. I know this because my smart phone says so. The same phone that woke me up in the morning, reminded me to give my

JILA Strontium Atomic Clock Sets New Records in Both Precision and Stability

January 22, 2014

Heralding a new age of terrific timekeeping, a research group led by a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) physicist has unveiled an

JILA Team Develops 'Spinning Trap' to Measure Electron Roundness

December 5, 2013

JILA researchers have developed a method of spinning electric and magnetic fields around trapped molecular ions to measure whether the ions' tiny electrons are

NIST Physicists 'Entangle' Microscopic Drum's Beat with Electrical Signals

October 22, 2013

Extending evidence of quantum behavior farther into the large-scale world of everyday life, physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology

CU-Boulder and NIST Joint Institute Physicist Ana Maria Rey Wins 2013 MacArthur Fellowship

September 25, 2013

Additional Contact: Malinda Miller-Huey, CU spokesperson, 303-492-3115 Ana Maria Rey, a theoretical physicist and a fellow of JILA, a joint institute of the

Beyond Quantum Simulation: JILA Physicists Create 'Crystal' of Spin-swapping Ultracold Gas Molecules

September 18, 2013

Physicists at JILA have created a crystal-like arrangement of ultracold gas molecules that can swap quantum "spin" properties with nearby and distant partners

JILA Researchers Discover Atomic Clock Can Simulate Quantum Magnetism

August 8, 2013

Researchers at JILA have for the first time used an atomic clock as a quantum simulator, mimicking the behavior of a different, more complex quantum system.*

NIST Scientists Wineland and Nesbitt Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

April 30, 2013

Two National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) scientists, David Wineland and David Nesbitt, have been elected members of the American Academy of

NIST Mechanical Micro-Drum Used as Quantum Memory

March 13, 2013

One of the oldest forms of computer memory is back again—but in a 21st century microscopic device designed by physicists at the National Institute of Standards

JILA Physicists Achieve Elusive 'Evaporative Cooling' of Molecules

December 19, 2012

Achieving a goal considered nearly impossible, JILA physicists have chilled a gas of molecules to very low temperatures by adapting the familiar process by

Construction Industry Honors JILA X-Wing

November 27, 2012

JILA's new X-Wing addition has received two construction industry awards—best project in higher education/research and special judges' recognition—from the

Deborah Jin of JILA Selected for 2013 Women in Science Award

October 22, 2012

Deborah Jin, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) who works at JILA, has been selected as the North American recipient for

The World's Most Stable Laser

September 10, 2012

The world's most stable laser – with frequency variation of no more than 2 parts in 10,000 trillion – has been developed and tested by an international

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