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Physics

News and Updates

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Temperature Control Improves NIST X-ray Detector

July 13, 2005

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed an improved experimental X-ray detector that could pave the way to a new...

Predicting the Lifetime of Extreme UV Optics

July 13, 2005

Extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) may be the next-generation patterning technique used to produce smaller and faster microchips with feature sizes of 32...

NIST Finds Rough Spot in Surface Measurement

July 13, 2005

For makers of computers, disk drives and other sophisticated technologies, a guiding principle is the smoother the surfaces of chips and other components, the...

New NIST Method Improves Accuracy of Spectrometers

June 16, 2005

Measurements of the intensity of light at different wavelengths can be made more accurately now, thanks to a new, simple method for correcting common instrument...

Micrograph of four NIST single photon detectors

NIST Photon Detectors Have Record Efficiency

June 2, 2005

Sensors that detect and count single photons, the smallest quantities of light, with 88 percent efficiency have been demonstrated by physicists at the National...

NIST Fellow Elected to National Academy of Sciences

May 5, 2005

WASHINGTON,D.C. — Deborah S. Jin, a physicist and fellow of the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has been...

Noisy Pictures Tell a Story of 'Entangled' Atoms, JILA Physicists Find

March 22, 2005

Patterns of noise—normally considered flaws—in images of an ultracold cloud of potassium provide the first-ever visual evidence of correlated ultracold atoms, a...

Quantum Computers May Be Easier to Build Than Predicted, NIST Work Suggests

March 2, 2005

Boulder, Colo.— A full-scale quantum computer could produce reliable results even if its components performed no better than today's best first-generation...

Replace Kilogram Artifact Now With Definition Based on Nature, Experts Say

February 14, 2005

London, Feb. 14, 2005—It's time to replace the 115-year-old kilogram artifact as the world's official standard for mass, even though experiments generally...

Experiments Prove Existence of Atomic Chain 'Anchors'

February 3, 2005

Atoms at the ends of self-assembled atomic chains act like anchors with lower energy levels than the "links" in the chain, according to new measurements by...

Photo of the NIST chip-scale magnetometer

Tiny, Atom-based Detector Senses Weak Magnetic Fields

January 5, 2005

A low-power, magnetic sensor about the size of a grain of rice that can detect magnetic field changes as small as 50 picoteslas—a million times weaker than the...

Chip-Scale Magnetic Sensor Draws on Mini Clock Design

December 29, 2004

A low-power, magnetic sensor about the size of a grain of rice that can detect magnetic field changes as small as 50 picoteslas—a million times weaker than the...

David Wineland and Dietrich Leibfried wear goggles and stand in front of equipment

NIST Demonstrates Data 'Repair Kit' for Quantum Computers

December 1, 2004

A practical method for automatically correcting data-handling errors in quantum computers has been developed and demonstrated by physicists at the National...

Scientists Tame 'Hip Hop' Atoms

September 9, 2004

In an effort to put more science into the largely trial and error building of nanostructures, physicists at the Commerce Department's National Institute of...

NIST Unveils Chip-Scale Atomic Clock

August 27, 2004

The heart of a minuscule atomic clock—believed to be 100 times smaller than any other atomic clock—has been demonstrated by scientists at the Commerce...

image 1 (of 3) showing strontium atoms forming a "cube"

Scientists Report First Observation of an "Atomic Air Force"

August 18, 2004

The first sighting of atoms flying in formation has been reported by physicists at the Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology...

David Wineland leans over a table of lasers to adjust a laser beam

NIST Demonstrates 'Teleportation' of Atomic States for Quantum Computing

June 16, 2004

Physicists at the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated "teleportation" by transferring key properties...

A Quantum Mechanical 'Tune Up' for Better Measurement

June 4, 2004

By exploiting the weird quantum behavior of atoms, physicists at the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have...

NIST System Sets Speed Record For Generation of Quantum Keys for 'Unbreakable' Encryption

May 3, 2004

The fastest known cryptographic system based on transmission of single photons—the smallest pulses of light—has been demonstrated by a team at the Commerce...

Deborah S. Jin, NIST physicist, JILA Fellow, and CU adjoint associate professor Opening Statement Press conference on Fermionic Condensates, Jan. 28, 2004

January 28, 2004

Good morning. I am delighted to be here today to tell you about some exciting new results from our lab. I will start with a brief description of what we see in...