JILA News

JILA Fellow, NIST Physicist, and University of Colorado Physics professor Adam Kaufman has been awarded a grant as part of the 2023 Young Investigator Research Program, or YIP. YIP was launched by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, or AFOSR, the basic research arm of the Air Force Research Laboratory. The AFOSR's mission is to support Air Force goals of control and maximum utilization of air, space, and cyberspace. To do this, AFSOR is awarding $25 million in grants to 58 scientists and engineers from 44 research institutions and businesses in 22 states in 2023. 

JILA graduate student Aaron Young, a researcher in JILA Fellow and NIST Physicist Adam Kaufman’s laboratory has been awarded a 2022 University of Chicago Quantum Creators Prize. The prize is part of the Chicago Quantum Exchange, one of the largest organizations celebrating quantum research and computing in the U.S. As Young explained: “This award is relatively new, this is only the second year it's been around, but I think it does a good job of providing some visibility to junior people in the field - particularly to people outside the academic community like those in industry or in government.” To promote early career research and diversity within the field of quantum science, award winners receive an honorarium of $500, a prize certificate, and reimbursed travel to the 2022 Chicago Quantum Summit. 

When it comes to quantum technology, research and industry often work together to help advance both science and technology. That is why we at JILA congratulate JILA Fellow and University of Colorado Boulder Professor in Physics and Electrical, Compute, & Energy Engineering, Dana Anderson, for his and his team’s work at ColdQuanta, a leading quantum technology company, for being recognized by TIME magazine. Anderson is the founder of ColdQuanta and was the CEO before becoming the Chief Strategy Officer. The technology used at ColdQuanta originated from his laboratory at JILA. 

NIST Chief of the Quantum Physics Division Andrew Wilson is a recipient of 2022’s Jacob Rabinow Applied Research Awards, one of the highest awards that can be given to one of NIST’s 1,600 technical and scientific employees. The award is named after researcher Jacob Rabinow, who received over 200 patents for his inventions in optical, mechanical, and electrical systems while working at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) the predecessor of NIST. Wilson was cited as being “honored for his dedicated, long-term leadership in quantum information processing through his research.” Wilson’s research is part of the Ion Storage Group at NIST, which focuses on quantum information experiments using entangled atomic ions. 

JILA Fellow and University of Colorado Boulder Distinguished Professor Andreas Becker has been awarded a 2023 fellowship to Optica (formerly the Optical Society of America). Becker's work at JILA focuses on the analysis and simulation of ultrafast phenomena in atoms, molecules, and clusters, in particular attosecond electron dynamics, coherent control, and molecular imaging. Using special laser frequencies, Becker and his team are able to study the dynamics of these atoms and molecules in different time scales. 

JILA Fellow Margaret Murnane has been selected as a recipient of the 2022 Institute of Physics Isaac Newton Medal and Prize. This prestigious award honors the legacy of the famous physicist Sir Isaac Newton, by commending those who have made world-leading contributions in the field of physics. Murnane received the award for pioneering and sustained contributions to the development of ultrafast lasers and coherent X-ray sources and the use of such sources to understand the quantum nature of materials.

Walk down to the basement labs of JILA and you're sure to find something interesting. From atomic clocks to biophysics, researchers are hard at work advancing scientific and technological frontiers. One of these researchers is graduate student Dhruv Kedar. Kedar works in JILA and NIST Fellow Jun Ye's lab, focusing on laser development for a range of applications including optical atomic clocks and optical timescales. “We're really just trying to make the world's best lasers as part of the atomic clock,” explained Kedar. “We do a good job of isolating out any sort of environmental effects so the atomic frequency of the clock doesn't change but gets more precise.” As optical atomic clocks use a series of lasers to control and measure the quantum state evolution inside an atom, which will redefine the SI unit of Second in the foreseeable future, improving the lasers to be themselves free of environmental noise is an important task. 

How does a scientist become interested in quantum physics? For Ana Maria Rey, both a JILA and NIST Fellow, the answer involves a rich and complicated journey. Quantum Systems Accelerator, a National QIS Research Center funded by the United States Department of Energy Office of Science, featured Rey in a new article series in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. In this article, Rey shares her story and her current research. 

Adam Kaufman — a JILA Fellow, NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) Physicist, and University of Colorado Boulder Professor — has been awarded the American Physical Society's (APS) 2023 I.I. Rabi Prize in Atomic, Molecular, and Optical (AMO) physics. 

In a recent New Yorker article titled "The Thorny Problem of Keeping the Internet’s Time," Judah Levine gives insight into his own work about time keeping at NIST. 

Boulder, Colo. — Physicist Adam Kaufman of both JILA and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been awarded the 2023 New Horizons in Physics Prize from the Breakthrough Prize Foundation for his work in advancing the control of atoms and molecules to improve atomic clocks and quantum information processing. 

How a woman from Colombia overcame obstacles to become a leading theoretical physicist and develop the world’s most accurate atomic clock. -From the "Optica Community" article

Many researchers at JILA feel honored to work with several big-name scientists within a specialized field of physics. One of these is graduate student Hannalore Gerling-Dunsmore, who is mentored by JILA Fellow Mitch Begelman and Fellow Adjoint Phil Armitage. Studying with these two well-known physicists, Gerling-Dunsmore's work focuses on accretion disk survival, or the conditions needed for the accretion disks of the supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies      to survive gravitational instability. Her research, along with the support of her advisors, has helped award Gerling-Dunsmore with a prestigious pre-doctoral fellowship at the Center for Computational Astrophysics (CCA). This fellowship is sponsored by the Simons Foundation in New York City. According to Gerling-Dunsmore, the Simons foundation funds: "science that is especially computational in nature and often does not      get a lot of funding from the U.S. government." This funding allows researchers like Gerling-Dunsmore to further explore their interests while learning new research skills. 

The DoD announced today the selection of nine distinguished faculty scientists and engineers for the 2022 Class of Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellows (VBFF). This highly competitive Fellowship is named in honor of Dr. Vannevar Bush, who directed the Office of Scientific Research and Development after World War II. In line with Dr. Bush’s vision, the Fellowship aims to advance transformative, university-based fundamental research.

“The Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship is the Department’s most prestigious research grant award,” said Dr. Jean-Luc Cambier, the VBFF Program Director. “It is oriented towards bold and ambitious ‘blue sky’ research that will lead to extraordinary outcomes that may revolutionize entire disciplines, create entirely new fields, or disrupt accepted theories and perspectives.” JILA and NIST Fellow Jun Ye has been distinguished as one of the 2022 Fellows. 

This year, JILA celebrates its 60th anniversary. Officially established on April 13, 1962, as a joint institution between the University of Colorado Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), JILA has become a world leader in physics research. Its rich history includes three Nobel laureates, groundbreaking work in laser development, atomic clocks, underlying dedication to precision measurement, and even competitive sports leagues. The process of creating this science goliath was not always straightforward and took the dedication and hard work of many individuals.

Two JILA graduate students were awarded this year's Richard Nelson Thomas Award for Graduate Students in Astrophyiscs. This award is given annually in honor of Dr. Richard Nelson Thomas, a founding member of JILA and an astrophysics researcher. Dr. Thomas was instrumental in establishing JILA's Visiting Fellows program, as well as growing the institution as a whole. Because of Dr. Thomas' legacy, his family and friends established an annual award given to an outstanding graduate student in astrophysics. 

University of Colorado President Todd Saliman visited JILA this past week and toured the laboratories at the invitation of JILA and NIST Fellow Eric Cornell.

Saliman was impressed by the research team and Fellows and applauded their work.

“You are all working to change the world,” President Saliman said.

Most, if not all, JILA alumni have found that their time at JILA has impacted their careers. Whether through working on cutting-edge research or networking with others, most JILA alumni have left the institution with essential skills needed for their future successes. This is the case for Dr. Rabin Paudel, who was a Senior Applications Engineer at Cymer/ASML, which is a Dutch multinational company that makes photolithography equipment used by semiconductor chipmakers. Since the writing of this article, Paudel has now started a new position at Intel Corporation.

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.