Q-SEnSE

  • A photo of the atomic clock setup complete with the bisecting cavity.
    NIST Fellow and University of Colorado Boulder Physics professor Jun Ye, in collaboration with JILA and NIST Fellow James K. Thompson, has used a specific process known as spin squeezing to generate quantum entanglement, resulting in an enhancement in clock performance operating at the 10-17stability level. Their novel experimental setup, published in Nature Physics, also allowed the researchers to directly compare two independent spin-squeezed ensembles to understand this level of precision in time measurement, a level never before reached with a spin-squeezed optical lattice clock.
  • Senator Hickenlooper (center) talks to JILA's instrument shop head Kyle Thatcher (left) and JILA instrument maker Hans Green (right).
    In a recent significant visit to JILA, a joint institute established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado Boulder, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper discussed the transformative potential of quantum computing on Colorado's economy, job industry, and educational sector. The visit underscored the state's growing prominence in the quantum technology landscape.
  • JILA's three-dimensional (3-D) quantum gas atomic clock consists of a grid of light formed by three pairs of laser beams. Multiple lasers of various colors are used to cool the atoms, trap them in a grid of light, and probe them for clock operation. A blue laser beam excites a cube-shaped cloud of strontium atoms. Strontium atoms fluorescence strongly when excited with blue light, as seen in the upper right corner behind the vacuum window.
    In an exciting turn for physics research, four major foundations have announced a collaborative funding effort for 11 pioneering "tabletop" experiments. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Simons Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the John Templeton Foundation have come together, committing a total of $30 million. This unique initiative focuses on supporting experiments that, despite their relatively modest scale, are set to delve into areas often reserved for large-scale facilities.

    Among the funded projects, each of which will receive up to five years of financial support, is a particularly notable experiment led by JILA and NIST Fellow Jun Ye and his research team. Known for his remarkable work in physics, Ye's project stands out for its ambition and innovative approach. The experiment involves the development of ultra-precise atomic clocks, which are expected to significantly advance our understanding of both quantum mechanics and general relativity.
  • The Boeing Quantum Creators Prize is awarded at the annual Chicago Quantum Summit hosted by the Chicago Quantum Exchange
    Anjun Chu, a JILA graduate student, has been awarded the esteemed Boeing Quantum Creators Prize for 2023. This prestigious award, established by Boeing in 2021, celebrates early-career researchers who have significantly contributed to the advancement of quantum information science and engineering.

    Chu, a member of the theory group led by JILA and NIST Fellow Ana Maria Rey, has distinguished himself through his groundbreaking research in quantum many-body dynamics. His work, focusing on spin systems and their multilevel extensions, has been vital in exploring quantum simulation and metrology in cutting-edge areas like optical lattice clocks and cavity QED systems.
  • JILA and NIST Fellow Jun Ye has been awarded a 2023 Highly Cited Researcher Designation
    In a prestigious acknowledgment of scientific impact, JILA and NIST Fellow Jun Ye has been awarded the 2023 "Highly Cited" researcher designation from Clarivate. This notable recognition is bestowed upon researchers whose work ranks in the top 1% of citations for their field, highlighting their significant influence in the scientific community.
  • A SiN resonator under localized heating. Different modes have different effective temperatures depending on the spatial overlap between the local temperature and the dissipation density of the mode.
    New research from JILA Fellow and University of Colorado Boulder physics professor Cindy Regal and her team, Dr. Ravid Shaniv and graduate student Chris Reetz has found that in specific scenarios, such as advanced studies looking at the interactions between light and mechanical objects, where the temperature might differ in various resonator parts, which lead to unexpected behaviors. Their observations, published in Physical Review Research, can potentially revolutionize the design of micro-mechanical resonators for quantum technology and precision sensing.
  • Ana Maria Rey
    U.S. President Joe Biden has awarded 232聽Senior Executive Service (SES), Senior-Level (SL), and Scientific and Professional (ST) members across 31 government agencies with the prestigious Presidential Rank Award. Of these individuals, JILA and NIST Fellow Ana Maria Rey has been recognized within the Department of Commerce for her work in precision measurement and quantum physics.
  • Hybrid integration of a designer nanodiamond with photonic circuits via ring resonators.
    In quantum information science, many particles can act as 鈥渂its,鈥 from individual atoms to photons. At JILA, researchers utilize these bits as 鈥渜ubits,鈥 storing and processing quantum 1s or 0s through a unique system.

    While many JILA Fellows focus on qubits found in nature, such as atoms and ions, JILA Associate Fellow and University of Colorado Boulder Assistant Professor of Physics Shuo Sun is taking a different approach by using 鈥渁rtificial atoms,鈥 or semiconducting nanocrystals with unique electronic properties. By exploiting the atomic dynamics inside fabricated diamond crystals, physicists like Sun can produce a new type of qubit, known as a 鈥渟olid-state qubit,鈥 or an artificial atom.
  • Visualization of locating the optimal generator on a Bloch sphere. The color represents the QFI for the given generator.
    JILA Fellow Murray Holland and his research team proposed an algorithm that uses the Quantum Fisher Information Matrix (QFIM), a set of mathematical values that can determine the usefulness of entangled states in a complicated system.

    Their results, published in Physical Review Letters as an Editor鈥檚 Suggestion, could offer significant benefits in developing the next generation of quantum sensors by acting as a type of 鈥渟hortcut鈥 to find the best measurements without needing a complicated model.
  • Senator Michael Bennet (right) listens to JILA instrument maker Hans Green (middle) discuss JILA's milling machine, as JILA Fellow Chair Konrad Lehnert (left) watches.
    On October 20th, Colorado Senator Michael Bennet visited JILA, a joint institute between the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado Boulder. During his visit, Bennet engaged with several of the institute's scientists and students, discussing their groundbreaking research and its implications. JILA Fellows Konrad Lehnert, Cindy Regal, Jun Ye, and Ana Maria Rey all spoke about their research during Bennett鈥檚 walking tour of JILA. Bennet visited Ye鈥檚 laboratory, discussing with several of his students the importance of atomic clocks and their impacts on technology such as GPS.

    Bennet's engagement with JILA reinforces the significance of Colorado as a hub for scientific innovation and quantum research, and it sheds light on the potential collaborations that could emerge between political leadership and the scientific community.
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