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Physics

Atomic / Molecular / Quantum

News and Updates

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Hysteresis in a Quantized BEC Superfluid

February 14, 2014

Scientists at NIST's Physical Measurement Laboratory and the NIST-sponsored Joint Quantum Institute (JQI), with collaborators elsewhere, have observed a...

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...

Controllable Mode Competition in a Phonon Laser

November 19, 2013

Using a novel realization of a "phonon laser," scientists at PML and the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) have observed and learned to control a process called...

Thermopower image of epitaxial graphene. Three distinct indexed regions are marked l, ll, and lll.

Researchers from U.S. and Korea Collaborate on Graphene Research

November 7, 2013

Researchers from the NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) and the Republic of Korea's national metrology institute—the Korea Research...

NIST's New Compact Atomic Clock Design Uses Cold Atoms to Boost Precision

November 5, 2013

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated a compact atomic clock design that relies on cold rubidium atoms...

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

September 25, 2013

Ana Maria Rey, a theoretical physicist and a fellow of JILA, a joint institute of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University...

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...

NIST Ytterbium Atomic Clocks Set Record for Stability

August 22, 2013

A pair of experimental atomic clocks based on ytterbium atoms at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has set a new record for stability...

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...

First Observation of Spin Hall Effect in a Quantum Gas Is Step Toward 'Atomtronics'

June 5, 2013

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have reported the first observation of the "spin Hall effect" in a Bose-Einstein...

Closing the Last Bell-test Loophole for Photons

June 3, 2013

An international team of researchers has reached a milestone in experimental confirmation of a key tenet of quantum mechanics, using ultra-sensitive photon...

An Unprecedented View of Spintronic Switching

April 26, 2013

If spintronics is to become the Next Big Thing, it will be because researchers have learned how to control many extremely small, but hugely significant, things...

A Primary Voltage Standard for the Whole World

April 4, 2013

PML researchers are on the verge of reaching a long-sought major goal: Providing the world with a programmable quantum voltage standard that has an uncertainty...

NIST Quantum Refrigerator Offers Extreme Cooling and Convenience

March 5, 2013

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated a solid-state refrigerator that uses quantum physics in micro- and...

High Efficiency in the Fastest Single-Photon Detector System

February 19, 2013

A single photon may not seem like much of a catch. But detecting photons one-by-one with near-perfect reliability is formidably difficult. It is also an...

Calculating Quantum Vacuum Forces in Nanostructures

February 7, 2013

One of the surprising predictions of quantum mechanics is that uncharged conductors can attract each other over small distances, even in empty space. While the...

Uses and Users of NIST's Atomic Spectra Database

December 19, 2012

The online Atomic Spectra Database (ASD) provides the most authoritative information about atomic spectra available anywhere, and it is used by researchers...

Photons Emitted by Quantum Dots Can be Made Indistinguishable Through Quantum Frequency Conversion

December 19, 2012

An international collaboration led by researchers from the NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology has demonstrated the ability to make photons emitted...

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...

NIST Experiments Challenge Fundamental Understanding of Electromagnetism

November 27, 2012

A cornerstone of physics may require a rethink if findings at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are confirmed. Recent experiments...

Key Property of Graphene Sustained Over Wide Ranges of Density and Energy

November 14, 2012

A collaboration led by researchers from the NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology has shown for the first time that charge carriers in graphene...

Schematic of the disk-cantilever sensor geometry.

Researchers Develop Versatile Optomechanical Sensors for Atomic Force Microscopy

October 24, 2012

Researchers from the NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology have developed on-chip optomechanical sensors for atomic force microscopy (AFM) that...

NIST's Speedy Ions Could Add Zip to Quantum Computers

August 8, 2012

Take that, sports cars! Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) can accelerate their beryllium ions from zero to 100 miles per...

The State Armory Building in Boulder, Colorado, was the first home of JILA

JILA Named 'Physics Historic Site' on its 50th Anniversary

July 11, 2012

JILA, a Colorado laboratory known around the world for creating new states of matter and novel laser designs and applications, turns 50 this year and will...

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