In response to requests by several federal agencies, the Committee on Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Sciences (CAMOS) of the National Research Council's Board on Physics and Astronomy (BPA) proposed a study of atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) science to be conducted by a panel chosen for that purpose. The specific charge to the Panel on the Future of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Sciences (FAMOS) was to conduct an assessment of atomic, molecular, and optical science in the United States, which reflects the opinions of the AMO community at large and addresses the following:
With financial support from the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the National Research Council, the panel was assembled and has worked within the resources provided to meet the charge. This report is the product of the study.
AMO science centers on phenomena and processes involving the common building blocks of our world, that is, atoms, ions, molecules, and light, at energies characteristic of our everyday experience. Therefore, the new discoveries and inventions and the basic scientific knowledge provided by AMO science find immediate and widespread application in many areas of national importance. AMO science supports many areas of science, engineering, and technology and contributes significantly to the nation's highest priorities, including those related to basic scientific knowledge; education and human resources; industrial technology, manufacturing, and processing; information technology, high-performance computing, and communications; energy; global change; defense; health and medical technology; space technology; and transportation. Given the extraordinary diversity of the field and the broad impact of the science, the panel found it necessary in this assessment to adopt a focused definition of the field. However, the boundaries are occasionally crossed to better inform the reader of the applications and impacts of AMO science.
Briefly, atomic science encompasses the study of atoms and their ions, including their structure and properties; optical interactions; and collisions and interactions with electrons, external fields, and solids and surfaces. It is the test bed for the most precise tests of the fundamental physical laws of nature. Molecular science is defined here as the study of molecules, clusters, and molecular ions, including their structure and properties, optical interactions, collisions, and interactions with electrons, external fields, solids, and surfaces. Optical science here includes only those areas that are closely related to the laser, one of the key technological advances of this century, and to its applications. Thus, the panel has had to exclude many important areas of optical science and engineering, including vision, imaging science, atmospheric optics, and binary optics, and it hopes that these will be the subject of a future National Research Council assessment that will complement the present one.
Because AMO science provides data, understanding, instrumentation, and technologies that are essential in many other fields of science and engineering and in many applications, AMO science facilitates meeting a number of the nation's goals and needs. This report examines at some length this enabling aspect of the field.
At the organizational meeting in October 1991, the panel structured itself into subpanels that were disciplinary (atomic, molecular, and optical) and cross-disciplinary (technology impacts, education and human resources, interfaces with other sciences, resources and research infrastructure, and data) in nature. Most of the early work of the panel was carried out through these subpanels.
In an effort to gather the most current information from as broad a base as possible, letters asking for written input were sent to approximately 900 scientists in the field, to officers of the societies and divisions of societies that are closely allied to the field, and to heads of 11 major national laboratories. A number of industrial leaders were contacted. Town meetings were held at the International Quantum Electronics Conference (1992), the joint meeting of the Optical Society of America and the Interdisciplinary Laser Science Conference (1992), and the 1992 and 1993 annual meetings of the Division of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics of the American Physical Society (APS). A questionnaire was designed to solicit specific information from the scientists themselves that could be used to address the charge to the panel. The questionnaire was mailed to nearly 20,000 scientists who were members of the appropriate divisions, sections, interest groups, and so on, of the American Physical Society, the Optical Society of America, the American Chemical Society, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the Society of Photographic and Instrumentation Engineers, and the Materials Research Society.
A major challenge of the study has been that of assessing priorities, as set forth in the third item of the charge to the panel. AMO science affects national priorities in many different ways. It does not depend in its major thrusts on the construction and operation of large facilities. Because of these factors, a single linearized list of detailed technical priorities would not be meaningful. The panel, however, has arrived at three general priorities for AMO science in the immediate future.
The panel has been impressed by the important contributions to national needs that have been made and continue to be made by AMO science. These contributions range from the most fundamental levels of discovery and invention to applications critical to the nation's technological infrastructure and to its national economic productivity, competitive position, and security. The U.S. research investment in AMO science has yielded enormous returns both economically and in terms of scientific knowledge. Expecting this trend to continue, the panel views AMO science as the subtitle of the report indicates--An Investment in the Future.
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