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Physics

Atomic / Molecular / Quantum

News and Updates

Keyword

Organization

New Frequency Comb Can Identify Molecules in 20-Nanosecond Snapshots

October 30, 2023

Laser-based system now has the ability to capture moment-to-moment details of high-speed processes such as hypersonic propulsion and protein folding.

Twisted Science: NIST Researchers Find a New Quantum Ruler to Explore Exotic Matter

October 5, 2023

A single-atom-thick sheet of carbon known as graphene has remarkable properties on its own, but things can get even more interesting when you stack up multiple

NIST Researchers Develop a Breakthrough COVID-19 Detection Technology

October 2, 2023

“Only connect” is the most famous line in the British novelist E. M. Forster’s writings. Forster was urging the readers of his book Howard’s End to make

Illustration of a pair of tweezers surrounding a beam of light that illuminates a line of atoms, each with an analog clock face in the center and an up and down arrow pointing through it.

New Spin-Squeezing Techniques Let Atoms Work Together for Better Quantum Measurements

September 25, 2023

Opening new possibilities for quantum sensors, atomic clocks and tests of fundamental physics, JILA researchers have developed new ways of “entangling” or

Four researchers pose standing in a lab, smiling and wearing safety glasses, surrouded by wires and other electronics.

NIST Demonstrates a New ‘Primary Standard’ for Measuring Ultralow Pressures

August 10, 2023

Chip manufacturing, gravitational wave detectors and quantum computers could all benefit from better ways to measure a vacuum.

Two people wearing coveralls in a "clean room" lab look up at a disk-shaped object that one of them is holding.

Spotlight: Detecting the Inner Workings and Origins of Our Universe With NIST Researcher Tammy Lucas

July 20, 2023

NIST researcher Tammy Lucas is building tools to help astronomers and cosmologists look back in time to the earliest moments of our universe — and see what we

New NIST Licensing Opportunity Teems with Potential Applications

July 5, 2023

Max Planck, one of the Twentieth Century’s most eminent physicists, observed, "An experiment is a question that science poses to Nature, and a measurement is

NIST-Designed Photonic Chip Transforms a Single Beam of Light Into Multiple Beams, Each With a Panoply of Different Properties

June 30, 2023

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have devised a photonic circuit on a chip that transforms a single incoming beam of

Jun Ye: A Timely Profile

June 26, 2023

Physicist Jun Ye has a knack for making every second count—literally. At JILA, a joint research institute of the University of Colorado and the National

New Tiny Atomic Beam Clock Could Bring Stable Timing to Places GPS Can’t Reach

June 21, 2023

A new type of miniature atomic clock could provide better timing over the span of weeks and months compared with current systems.

Spotlight: Researcher Sae Woo Nam Speeds Up Our World With Photon Detection

May 18, 2023

He and his colleagues built a detector that’s now used all over the world.

NIST/JILA Physicist Ana Maria Rey Elected to National Academy of Sciences

May 9, 2023

As a theoretical physicist, Ana Maria Rey studies atomic, molecular and optical physics, condensed matter physics and quantum information science.

NIST Scientists Develop Novel CT Scan Device for Integrated Circuits

April 14, 2023

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and their colleagues have developed a novel tabletop device that takes three

Manipulating Multiple Lasers on a Single Chip: Paving the Way for a New Generation of Quantum Devices

April 10, 2023

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed chip-scale devices for simultaneously manipulating the color, focus

Improved Chip-Scale Color Conversion Lasers Could Enable Many Next-generation Quantum Devices

March 28, 2023

In two new studies, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have greatly improved the efficiency and power output of a series

Ana Maria Rey sits at desk in an office and smiles for a photo.

Spotlight: NIST/JILA Fellow Ana Maria Rey’s Entrance Into Theoretical Physics

February 10, 2023

For the International Day of Women and Girls in Science tomorrow, we’re bringing her story to you.

Artifacts, Begone! NIST Improves Its Flagship Device for Measuring Mass

January 18, 2023

In a brightly lit subterranean lab at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) sits a room-sized electromechanical machine called the NIST-4

Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detector

Unveiling the Universe: In 4 New Studies, NIST Explores Novel Ways to Hunt Dark Matter

December 8, 2022

For decades, astronomers and physicists have been trying to solve one of the deepest mysteries about the cosmos: An estimated 85% of its mass is missing.

NIST’s Grid of Quantum Islands Could Reveal Secrets for Powerful Technologies

November 17, 2022

The grids provided playing fields in which electrons could behave in nearly ideal, textbook-like conditions.

Research on the Rocks: Combining Neutrons and X-Ray Imaging, NIST Scientists Study Meteorites to Explore the Mystery of How Earth Acquired Its Water

November 3, 2022

Each year, hundreds of meteorites — rocky bodies left over from the formation of the solar system — bombard Earth, delivering minerals, metals and water to our

Illustrations shows atoms connected with glowing lines inside the cylinder of the interferometer.

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