JILA News

For some physics and math undergraduates, JILA has become a place to learn cutting-edge research while belonging to a community. That's what undergraduate Connor Thomas experienced. Though Thomas is graduating with a bachelor's in biochemistry and transitioning to a graduate program at MIT, he's been grateful for his time at JILA. "JILA has been a pretty fantastic community for me," Thomas said. "In particular, my lab has been great. They were really constant through COVID. I am definitely going to miss all of that."

“It's hard to imagine my career without JILA,” explained Mike Martin, staff scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Martin first arrived at CU in 2006, as a graduate student. “I began working with [JILA and NIST Fellow] Jun Ye in 2007,” he said. “My work was in frequency metrology for precision measurement and timekeeping.” During Martin's stint at JILA, he explained that he helped work on the early development of the frequency comb. As time continued, his work expanded to include studying the strontium lattice clock. “At the time there was only one strontium apparatus in Jun’s lab,” he said. “And around 10 people or so were all studying it.” This allowed him to collaborate with many other colleagues on the science behind the clock. 

World Quantum Day is a big deal for JILA. With around 75% of JILA Fellows researching quantum phenomena, it's no surprise that this institute is a world leader in this field. “Quantum research enables so many applications, varying from new generations of computers, secure communications, to ultraprecise clocks and sensors,” explained JILA Fellow Shuo Sun.  “In addition, quantum research will drive the advances of many fields such as material science, chemistry, nanoscience, etc., which will likely drive new technology breakthroughs that we cannot predict yet. Finally, the research in quantum allows us to probe the fundamental questions in physics, which is really fascinating to me.” Quantum physics has had a long history at JILA, becoming popular thanks to Einstein's work in the 1920s. Several JILA Fellows, including JILA and NIST Fellow Jun Ye, continue to build off of Einstein's original work. 

JILA W. M. Keck Lab has been selected to receive a CU Green Labs Program Award for the lab’s efforts for shared research resources. The annual CU Green Labs Awards Program started in 2015 to reward departments that work to make the campus' sustainability possible.  Awardees exemplify CU’s continuing efforts to become a sustainable institution. 

Founded in 1962, JILA (a partnership between CU Boulder and NIST) is a world leader in quantum sensing research, workforce training, and industry engagement. JILA scientists have helped develop technology that has been implemented in space, while others are looking into using lasers to help with diagnosing respiratory illnesses. Over time, though, age has taken a toll on JILA facilities. 

The CU Federal Relations team worked with senators Hickenlooper and Bennet to secure $950,000 in funding for JILA through the omnibus bill to give its labs a refresh.

According to JILA COO Beth Kroger, the funding will pay for much-needed research equipment in the JILA instrument and electronics shops, as well as equipment for CU Boulder’s JILA Keck Metrology and Clean Room Core Facility, which serves the campus and provides important research capabilities.

JILA Fellow Heather Lewandowski has been honored in the 2022  President’s Teaching Scholars Program (PTSP), which recognizes CU faculty who skillfully integrate teaching and research at an exceptional level. Lewandowski's laboratory focuses on both cold molecular physics and physics education research. Her physics education research program studies ways to increase students' proficiency in scientific practices such as using models and quantitative reasoning in experimental physics. 

JILA and NIST Fellow Ana Maria Rey is to be inducted into the Colombian Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences (Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicas y Naturales). Fellow Ana Maria Rey has been inducted into the Colombian National Academy of Sciences.  Rey, is a Colombian-American physicist at the University of Colorado, Boulder who "studies the scientific interface between atomic, molecular and optical physics, condensed matter physics and quantum information science."

This week has been a big week for Colorado's quantum community, as delegates from the Government of Finland visited the snowy state to celebrate the beginning of several quantum research and quantum technology partnerships between the Fins and both academia and industry-based groups in Colorado.

On January 12, 2022, former JILAn Cheryl Glenn passed away. Known as a wonderful friend and leading light, Cheryl’s passing has left a hole in the JILA community. From 1978 to 2011, Cheryl was the Executive Assistant at JILA, helping the Fellows and bettering the JILA culture overall. According to Krista Beck, Fellows Assistant to Eric Cornell, Carl Lineberger, and the Physics Frontier Center, Cheryl was always there for support. When Krista had adopted her second child, a newborn, Cheryl helped teach Krista how to become a mother. “Cheryl was also a really good friend to all the visiting Fellows,” Krista added. 

Christmas Eve brings something extra special in the form of the James Webb telescope. This telescope is set to launch at 07:20 am EST This telescope is the successor of the Hubble telescope and is designed to go far into our galaxy, helping to answer some of our biggest questions about our universe.

This year’s Q2B (Quantum 2 Business) conference took place on December 7-9 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. Several big names spoke at the event, and it was a place to forge new partnerships and connections. For one lucky JILAn, the trip to this conference was sponsored by CUbit Quantum Initiative, (CUbit). "I am very grateful to Women in Quantum and CUbit for sponsoring me to attend the Q2B conference," Joanna Lis said. Lis is a graduate student within JILA Fellow Adam Kaufman's laboratory. "My research is looking at neutral atoms in tweezers. I was positively surprised on how much presence neutral atom platforms had within the conference," she added.

Two JILA graduate students were awarded "Oustanding Service Awards" from the Physics department at the University of Colorado Boulder. These awards are given each semester. 

On December 8th, JILA and NIST Fellow Dr. Judah Levine spoke on his research into internet time service. Internet time service is based on atomic clock technology and is used to help set computer clocks and other devices. The virtual event was hosted by Executive Director Dan Powers of CO-Labs, a coalition of 30+ federally funded Colorado research labs, including JILA. Levine's talk was one in a series discussing the ROI of scientific research.

JILA Room S209 informally referred to as Affinity Room, has been renovated and now has an official name: the Debbie Jin Room.  Named in honor of late JILA Fellow Debbie Jin, this suite of rooms is designed to foster and support community amongst JILA’s graduate students and postdocs. The JILA Welcome Lounge has also been renamed to the Chiral Spiral. 

JILA Graduate Student Andres Villani Davila has been awarded a 2021 "Oustanding Graduate for Research" Award by the University of Colorado Boulder College of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Davila works under JILA Fellow Heather Lewandowski and is pursuing a B.S. in Engineering Physics.

Antonio Vigil, a recently graduated JILA undergraduate has been named an "Outstanding Undergraduate" by the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. Vigil recently graduated summa cum laude after working for three years at JILA. 

JILA and NIST Fellow Jun Ye has been awarded the 2022 Herbert-Walther-Award from the German Physical Society and OPTICA (formerly OSA). This award recognizes distinguished contributions in quantum optics and atomic physics as well as leadership in the international scientific community.

CU Boulder innovators, JILA physicists, and university startup ColdQuanta are featured in a new film from the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (COEDIT) promoting Colorado's extensive quantum ecosystem.

The film interviews CUbit Director Jun Ye (Physics, JILA Fellow, NIST Fellow), Associate Research Professor Ana Maria Rey (Physics, JILA Fellow), and other members of CU Boulder's quantum community about the importance of quantum research and Colorado's prominence in the field. Dan Caruso, interim CEO of cold-atom quantum tech startup ColdQuanta—co-founded by Professor Dana Anderson (Physics, JILA)—is also extensively featured. 

Article is taken from the CUbit Quantum Initiative website. 

JILA and NIST Fellow Jun Ye has been named a 2021 Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher. This means that Ye is one of the 0.1%, of the world's researchers who receive this title. Clarivate™ is a data analytics company that identifies the world’s most influential researchers ─ the select few who have been most frequently cited by their peers over the last decade. Ye’s many published papers over the last year have been ranked in the top 1% by citations for field and year in the Web of Science™, according to Clarivate. Well done Dr. Ye! 

JILA Fellow Andreas Becker is one of the 11 University of Colorado Boulder faculty to be awarded a 2021 Distinguished Professor title. CU Distinguished Professors are tenured faculty members who give outstanding work in research or creative work and have a reputation of excellence in promoting learning and student engagement in the research process as well as dedicated to the profession, the university, and its affiliates.