Research Highlights

Displaying 61 - 80 of 441
Atomic & Molecular Physics | Laser Physics | Quantum Information Science & Technology
New JILA Tools ‘Turn On’ Quantum Gases of Ultracold Molecules
Published: December 12, 2020

For the first time, researchers can turn on an electric field to manipulate molecular interactions, get them to cool down further, and start to explore collective physics where all molecules are coupled to each other.

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PI(s):
Jun Ye
Atomic & Molecular Physics | Laser Physics | Quantum Information Science & Technology
JILA’s Electric ‘Knob’ Tunes Chemical Reaction Rates in Quantum Gas
Published: December 10, 2020

Building on their newfound ability to induce molecules in ultracold gases to interact with each other over long distances, JILA researchers have used an electric “knob” to influence molecular collisions and dramatically raise or lower chemical reaction rates.

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PI(s):
Jun Ye
Atomic & Molecular Physics | Laser Physics | Quantum Information Science & Technology
Advanced Atomic Clock Makes a Better Dark Matter Detector
Published: November 30, 2020

JILA researchers have used a state-of-the-art atomic clock to narrow the search for elusive dark matter, an example of how continual improvements in clocks have value beyond timekeeping.

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PI(s):
Jun Ye
Atomic & Molecular Physics
Measuring Spinning Donuts
Published: November 04, 2020

Follow that electron! JILA researchers have proposed a means of capturing an electron's flight path during ionization, and in doing so, determining the state of the atom at that moment.

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PI(s):
Andreas Becker | Agnieszka Jaron-Becker
Chemical Physics
Electron Fly-Bys on the Chemical Reaction Pathway
Published: November 02, 2020

When it comes to chemical reactions, shape matters. The Lewandowski Group have studied acetylene and its reactions with propyne and allene to find out how an isomer changes the chemical reaction pathway.

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PI(s):
Heather Lewandowski
Physics Education
Now Hiring: The New Quantum Workforce
Published: October 29, 2020

We're in the Second Quantum Revolution, and companies are eager to build and market new technology based on rapid advances in quantum physics. JILA Fellow Heather Lewandowski and her group decided to find out what qualifications these companies were looking for in the new quantum workforce. 

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PI(s):
Heather Lewandowski
Chemical Physics
The Rules of Photon Thunderdome
Published: October 05, 2020

During upconversion photoluminescence in rubrene, four triplet state ions fight it out to release a single high-energy photon. 

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PI(s):
J. Mathias Weber
Atomic & Molecular Physics
Total Ellipse of the SU(N)
Published: September 11, 2020

A strangely shaped cloud of fermions revealed a record-fast way of cooling atoms for quantum devices.

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PI(s):
Jun Ye | Ana Maria Rey
Biophysics
Grabbing Proteins by the Tail
Published: August 11, 2020

"Unraveling" cell membrane proteins could help us understand how to build better drugs and treatments for disease.

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PI(s):
Thomas Perkins
Physics Education
What to Know if You’re Teaching Physics Labs Remotely
Published: August 05, 2020

In the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, instructors are planning their courses for virtual platforms—a major challenge for laboratory classes. JILA Fellow Heather Lewandowski has gathered some helpful tools for those teaching physics labs in a virtual classroom.

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PI(s):
Heather Lewandowski
Atomic & Molecular Physics | Precision Measurement
Falling Dominos and an Army of Schrödinger’s Cats
Published: July 27, 2020

Using the laser from the strontium optical atomic clock, physicists can generate multiple cat-state atoms quickly and easily.

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PI(s):
Ana Maria Rey
Laser Physics
Scientists Open New Window into the Nano World
Published: July 15, 2020

Electronics keep shrinking. As they shrink the properties of the materials that make them change too. 

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PI(s):
Margaret Murnane
Astrophysics
The Collective Power of the Solar System's Dark, Icy Bodies
Published: July 07, 2020

Within our solar system are icy planetary bodies that do not orbit the Sun. JILA Fellow Ann Marie Madigan's group suggest that these detached objects have steadily nudged themselves out of solar orbit over millions of years.

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PI(s):
Ann-Marie Madigan
Atomic & Molecular Physics
The Sisyphean Task of Cooling Molecules
Published: June 03, 2020

Bringing molecules down to ultracold temperatures takes a mythic approach, but the Ye Group finds that their new scheme can hold up under tough conditions.

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PI(s):
Jun Ye
Atomic & Molecular Physics | Laser Physics | Nanoscience
Reading the Secrets of the Nanoworld with Infrared Light
Published: May 21, 2020

The secrets of nature are written in nanoscale. Now the Raschke Group has found a way to read those secrets.

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PI(s):
Markus Raschke
Atomic & Molecular Physics
Phases on the Move: A Quantum Game of Catch
Published: April 29, 2020

The world is out-of-equilibrium, and JILA scientists are trying to learn what rules govern the dynamic systems that make our universe so complex and beautiful, from black holes to our living bodies.

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PI(s):
Ana Maria Rey | James Thompson
Laser Physics
Breathing Stars and the Most Beautiful Scalpel
Published: April 07, 2020

In a new study from the Kapteyn-Murnane Group, ultrafast laser pulses can precisely cut through and manipulate the interaction between electrons and phonons in tantalum diselenide, changing its properties.

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PI(s):
Margaret Murnane
Quantum Information Science & Technology
Playing Games with Quantum Entanglement
Published: March 20, 2020

Could quantum entanglement improve our cell phone networks? The Graeme Smith Group at JILA found the answer by playing mathematical logic games.

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PI(s):
Graeme Smith
Laser Physics | Quantum Information Science & Technology
Guiding Electrons With Gold Nanostars
Published: March 13, 2020

Quantum technologies could process information even faster if they could harness the speed of light. Using gold nanostars, the Nesbitt Lab have found a way to use light to steer electric currents. 

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PI(s):
David Nesbitt
Biophysics | Chemical Physics
Sorting the Glow from the Flow
Published: March 02, 2020

How do you find a single cell in a sea of thousands? You make it glow. Adding fluorescence helps track movement and changes in small things like cells, DNA, and bacteria. In a library of millions of cells or bacteria, flow cytometry sorts the glowing material you want to study from the non-glowing material.

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PI(s):
Ralph Jimenez