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Physical Measurement Laboratory

Quantum Physics Division

News and Updates

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JILA’s Novel Atomic Clock Design Offers ‘Tweezer’ Control

September 12, 2019

JILA physicists have demonstrated a novel atomic clock design that combines near-continuous operation with strong signals and high stability, features not

Three-dimensional rope the color of Candy Corn snaking across the field of view, with an inset close-up of a small piece showing a twisted ladder shape

JILA’s 5-Minute Sample Processing Enhances DNA Imaging and Analysis

April 8, 2019

JILA scientists have developed a fast, simple sample preparation method that enhances imaging of DNA to better analyze its physical properties and interactions

Diffuse image of molecules flying through space, with each molecule made of one reddish sphere connected to a smaller blue sphere

JILA Researchers Make Coldest Quantum Gas of Molecules

February 21, 2019

JILA researchers have made a long-lived, record-cold gas of molecules that follow the wave patterns of quantum mechanics instead of the strictly particle nature

Rulers of light shining on individual buckyballs

JILA Researchers Uncover Quantum Structure of Buckyballs

January 28, 2019

JILA researchers have measured hundreds of individual quantum energy levels in the buckyball, a spherical cage of 60 carbon atoms.

JILA Researchers See Signs of Interactive Form of Quantum Matter

October 31, 2018

JILA researchers have, for the first time, isolated groups of a few atoms and precisely measured their multi-particle interactions within an atomic clock. The

Four images composed of diffuse red, white and blue patterns.

JILA Team Invents New Way to ‘See’ the Quantum World

March 5, 2018

JILA scientists have invented a new imaging technique that produces rapid, precise measurements of quantum behavior in an atomic clock in the form of near

JILA Spinning Method Confirms the Electron Still Seems Round

October 9, 2017

JILA physicists have for the first time used their spinning molecules technique to measure the “roundness” of the electron, confirming the leading results from

JILA’s 3-D Quantum Gas Atomic Clock Offers New Dimensions in Measurement

October 5, 2017

JILA physicists have created an entirely new design for an atomic clock, in which strontium atoms are packed into a tiny three-dimensional (3-D) cube at 1,000

JILA Team Discovers Many New Twists in Protein Folding

March 2, 2017

BOULDER, Colo.-- Biophysicists at JILA have measured protein folding in more detail than ever before, revealing behavior that is surprisingly more complex than

Illustration of strontium lattice atomic clock

JILA Atomic Clock Mimics Long-sought Synthetic Magnetic State in Solids

December 21, 2016

Using their advanced atomic clock to mimic other desirable quantum systems, JILA physicists have caused atoms in a gas to behave as if they possess unusual

JILA Team Spots Elusive Intermediate Compound in Atmospheric Chemistry

October 27, 2016

BOULDER, Colo.-- JILA physicists and colleagues have identified a long-missing piece in the puzzle of exactly how fossil fuel combustion contributes to air

Screenshot of an animation of a superradiant laser

JILA’s Superradiant Laser May One Day Boost Atomic Clocks and ‘Rulers’ for Space

October 14, 2016

BOULDER, Colo. – JILA physicists have demonstrated a novel laser design based on synchronized emissions of light from the same type of atoms used in advanced

Prominent NIST and JILA Physicist Deborah Jin Passes Away

September 19, 2016

Physicist Deborah Jin, a world leader in exotic states of matter called ultracold quantum gases, passed away September 15, 2016, from cancer. She was 47 years

This JILA instrument uses a frequency comb to detect large, complex molecules based on the precise frequencies, or colors, of light they absorb.

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

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