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Physics

Atomic/molecular/quantum

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Displaying 51 - 75 of 311

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.

GRA animated gif

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.

An Entangled Matter-Wave Interferometer: Now With Double the Spookiness!

October 20, 2022

A team of researchers at JILA has for the first time successfully combined two of the “spookiest” features of quantum mechanics to make a better quantum sensor.

Adam Kaufman poses for a head shot with a shelf of library books in the background.

NIST Physicist Adam Kaufman Wins Breakthrough New Horizons in Physics Prize

September 22, 2022

Kaufman won for his work in advancing the control of atoms and molecules to improve atomic clocks and quantum information processing.

Watch NIST’s ‘Atomic Television’ Live and in Color

August 17, 2022

Researchers have adapted their atom-based radio receiver to display live TV and video games.

NIST Researchers Demonstrate Quantum Entanglement with Distant, Synchronized Network Nodes

NIST Researchers Demonstrate Quantum Entanglement with Distant, Synchronized Network Nodes

August 1, 2022

The potential of quantum communications lies in the phenomena called "entanglement." It involves entangling two or more subatomic particles, like photons, which...

NIST-led Research Shows Advantages of Quantum-Enabled Communications for Internet

August 1, 2022

In the Internet, laser light is used to carry signals to intended destinations. Such optical communications enabled the establishment of the global Internet and...

Leading Experts Suggest Guidelines for Assessing Emerging Transistor Performance

July 29, 2022

To continue making smartphones, laptops, and other devices more powerful and energy efficient, industry is intensely focused on identifying promising next...

A Primary Standard for Measuring Vacuum

July 15, 2022

A novel, quantum-based vacuum gauge system invented by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has passed its first test to be...

A tiny glass vial on a white stand has a copper headphone-shaped structure over it.

Custom ‘Headphones’ Boost Atomic Radio Reception 100-Fold

May 23, 2022

The structure — a square overhead loop connecting two square panels — increases the incoming radio signal, or electric field, applied to the gaseous atoms in...

Spotlight: The Bucket Brigade for Atomic Physics and the Electron Dipole Moment

May 19, 2022

Gone are the days of bucket brigades for firefighting — long lines of people passing buckets of water one at a time toward a blaze — but NIST/JILA researchers...

Measuring Up: Coming Out from the Cold

February 24, 2022

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have constructed and tested a system that allows commercial electronic components –...

microring thumbnail

Scientists Greatly Expand the Frequencies Generated by a Miniature Optical Ruler

February 23, 2022

Like a vocal coach who extends the octave range of an opera singer, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have expanded by...

JILA Atomic Clocks Measure Einstein’s General Relativity at Millimeter Scale

February 16, 2022

JILA physicists have measured Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity, or more specifically, the effect called time dilation, at the smallest scale ever...

Hybrid Optical Device Captures Light for Longer Periods of Time in a Tiny Region

February 9, 2022

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and their colleagues have significantly improved the ability of a type of optical...

NIST Researchers Resurrect and Improve a Technique for Detecting Transistor Defects

February 3, 2022

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have revived and improved a once-reliable technique to identify and count defects in...

When Atoms Don’t Blend In

January 3, 2022

Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and colleagues at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) have prepared and controlled a...

A tiny chip encased in clear plastic sits on a piece of graph paper.

Spotlight: A Stability-Boosting Swap for Our Chip-Scale Clock

September 20, 2021

Stable is the chip-scale clock that uses a different laser, or so says the latest research from NIST physicists. Our scientists replaced an old infrared...

A Smart Use for Doping: Implanted Atoms Create Unique Electrical IDs That Distinguish Bona Fide Devices From Forgeries

September 16, 2021

If someone sells you a luxury handbag from Paris, France, but it turns out be a forgery from Paris, Texas, the counterfeit item might cost you a thousand bucks...

harmonic motion illustration

A New Harmony: NIST Researchers Develop a Universal Method for Calculating the Resonances of Oscillators

September 15, 2021

The natural, or resonance, frequency at which a simple harmonic oscillator vibrates reveals with exquisite sensitivity the essential properties of the physical...

neutron illustration

Groundbreaking Technique Yields Important New Details on Silicon, Subatomic Particles and Possible ‘Fifth Force’

September 9, 2021

Using a groundbreaking new technique at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an international collaboration led by NIST researchers has...

NIST/JILA Fellow Jun Ye Wins Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics

September 9, 2021

BOULDER, Colo. — Physicist Jun Ye of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been awarded the 2022...

atomic interferometer sketch

Exploring quantum gravity—for whom the pendulum swings.

August 18, 2021

When it comes to a marriage with quantum theory, gravity is the lone holdout among the four fundamental forces in nature. The three others—the electromagnetic...

Two men in dark goggles stand over a table of scientific equipment.

NIST’s Quantum Crystal Could Be a New Dark Matter Sensor

August 5, 2021

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have linked together, or “entangled,” the mechanical motion and electronic properties of...

19th International Workshop on Low Temperature Detectors (LTD19)

July 29, 2021

The 19th International Workshop on Low Temperature Detectors (LTD19) was an opportunity for researchers from around the world to exchange information about the...

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