Atomic / Molecular / Quantum

News and Updates

Table in darkened lab holds wiring and other laser electronics; a circular light source is situated above.

Major Leap for Nuclear Clock Paves Way for Ultraprecise Timekeeping

These clocks could lead to improved timekeeping and navigation, faster internet speeds, and advances in fundamental physics research.

A Physicist and Steampunk Enthusiast Explores Thermodynamics in the Quantum World

Alejandra Collopy wears safety glasses as she works the lab. She is surrounded by various pieces of equipment and many hanging wires.

Spotlight: Alejandra Collopy and Atomic Clocks

Three qubits appear in an artist’s conception as X-shaped icons that fit together.

Novel ‘Quantum Refrigerator’ Is Great at Erasing Quantum Computer’s Chalkboard

Blog Posts

Illustration shows a lottery ball machine: a clear plastic sphere on a stand, half-filled with colorful numbered balls.

Pirouetting Molecules Can Help Us Learn About the History of the Universe

A researcher wearing a lab coat uses tongs to place a silvery sphere into a large scientific device as another researcher looks on.

One of the World’s Roundest Objects Is Helping to Build a Better Mass Measurement

Four people sitting outside on a green tarp wear eclipse glasses as they peer up into the sky.

NIST Researchers Measure Greenhouse Gases During the Solar Eclipse

Projects and Programs

Atomic Thermometers

Ongoing

Approach 1 Compact Blackbody Radiation Atomic Sensor (CoBRAS) The Compact Blackbody Radiation Atomic Sensor (CoBRAS) uses a thermal vapor of atoms excited by a single laser to detect BBR. From the optically excited state, atomic population is transferred to other, nearby excited states by a

Far-infrared Spectroscopy of Biomolecules (Archived)

Completed

We employ novel complimentary measurement and theoretical techniques to explore the low frequency intramolecular dynamics of model biological molecules including amino acids, short peptides with constrained structures, proteins with well-defined tertiary structures and DNAs. Our current efforts

Platform for Realizing Integrated Molecule Experiments (PRIME)

Ongoing

Blackbodies realize a clear relationship between radiated power and temperature through Planck’s law. While a reliable instrument for temperature and power calibrations, blackbodies are afflicted with a plethora of systematics (e.g., non-ideal emissivity, propagation loss, temperature gradients

Atomic Wavefunctions

Ongoing

The numerical solution of the multi-particle Schrodinger equation describing atomic systems remains a challenging for computational physics. ITL scientists are in the forefront of this field with respect to extremely high-accuracy computation of non-relativistic eigenstates of few electron systems.