An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Physics Laboratory Fiscal Year 2008 (2008) / Chapter Skim
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Quantum Physics Division
Quantum Physics Division
Pages 41-50
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From page 41... ...
. The strategy of the Quantum Physics Division is to help produce the next generation of scientists and to investigate new ways of precisely directing and controlling light, atoms and molecules; measuring electronic, chemical and biological processes at the nanoscale; and manipulating ultrashort light pulses."10 Scope The strategic elements of this division are as follows: • To develop measurement science tools and their applications to technology; • To exploit Bose-Einstein condensation, quantum degenerate Fermi gases, and cold molecules for metrology and ultralow-temperature physics; • To advance ultrafast science and apply it to physics and biophysics; • To apply cutting-edge measurement science to biological systems; • To apply laser spectroscopy to important problems in chemical physics and biophysics; and • To educate a supply of top-quality scientists for NIST and elsewhere.
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From page 42... ...
Scientists in this division realized that the energy states of strontium had characteristics that should lead to extremely small systematic frequency uncertainty and thus to potential clock accuracy and repeatability comparable with or better than the best previously identified clock systems. In a tour de force of atom cooling, trapping in an optical lattice and optical clock technology, this novel optical clock features a large number of atoms responding identically, thus providing the precision of a single atom with vastly enhanced signal-to-noise ratio.
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From page 43... ...
These include the Arbitrary Optical Waveform Generator, which is a joint competency program with the Time and Frequency Division, and the use of optical frequency combs for trace molecule detection and molecular fingerprinting. Another area of endeavor involves approaching quantum-limited nanoscale mechanical and electronic measurement.
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From page 44... ...
As is true of the ultrashort, femtosecond laser pulse interactions with matter, there is a connection with biological physics, which is described below. This group determines basic chemical-reaction dynamics by means of laser spectroscopy of jet-cooled molecular ions, intermolecular energy surfaces, and lowtemperature radical and ion kinetics.
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From page 45... ...
An outstanding example of the cross-fertilization of technologies developed at JILA for the core mission of the development of measurement science tools is the extension of the Nobel Prize-winning work on optical combs to the application of this technology to biomolecule detection. The latter group invented cavity-enhanced direct frequency comb spectroscopy and has shown that it can perform ultrasensitive detection of unknown chemicals.
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From page 46... ...
Recent years have seen the retirement of two senior JILA Fellows and the hiring of a new principal investigator in the areas of atom cooling, spin squeezing, measurement science; and theory of ultracold atoms and optical lattices, respectively. The supporting research staff, technicians, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students are of high quality and are sufficient in numbers.
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From page 47... ...
The impact of the Quantum Physics Division is outstanding, as measured against its stated mission of making important advances at the frontiers of science that enable future precision measurement technology and in producing graduates that form a talented pool of scientists who are now spread through the NIST laboratories and elsewhere. Collaborations between the Quantum Physics Division and the nearby Time and Frequency Division are strong, particularly in the further development of frequency combs and their use in high-precision remote frequency comparisons over an optical fiber connecting the two sites.
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From page 48... ...
The scientific work at JILA has resulted in many awards, including a sharing of Nobel Prizes in physics for Bose-Einstein condensation of cold neutral atoms in 2001 and for the development of the stabilized laser frequency comb in 2005. Work in both of these areas continues to be advanced and remains among the best.
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From page 49... ...
Their stated mission is to do new science that will form the foundation for future advancements in the overall NIST mission, including developing new ways of controlling light, atoms, and molecules and their interactions, measuring nanoscale processes, and manipulating ultrashort light pulses. The relationship between NIST and the University of Colorado has a history of producing groundbreaking and excellent, high-impact scientific research that is being successfully continued today, resulting in two Nobel Prizes in recent history.
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From page 50... ...
should be exerted to sustain and, if possible, increase their support and funding. The most critical items that need to be addressed are funding for the JILA building expansion and funding for improvements in instrumentation relevant to nanotechnology research.
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