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While it may not look like it, the interstellar space between stars is far from empty. Atoms, ions, molecules, and more reside in this ethereal environment known as the Interstellar Medium (ISM). The ISM has fascinated scientists for decades, as at least 200 unique molecules form in its cold, low-pressure environment. It’s a subject that ties together the fields of chemistry, physics, and astronomy, as scientists from each field work to determine what types of chemical reactions happen there.

Now, in the recently published cover article of the Journal of Physical Chemistry A, JILA Fellow and University of Colorado Boulder Physics Professor Heather Lewandowski and former JILA graduate student Olivia Krohn highlight their work to mimic ISM conditions by using Coulomb crystals, a cold pseudo-crystalline structure, to watch ions and neutral molecules interact with each other.

In a new Optica paper, Ye’s team, working with JILA electronic staff member Ivan Ryger and John "Jan" Hall, describe implementing a new approach for the PDH method, reducing RAM to never-before-seen minimal levels while simultaneously making the system more robust and simpler.

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.

In a new study published in Scientific Reports, JILA Fellow and University of Colorado Boulder physics professor Andreas Becker and his team theorized a new method to produce extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and x-ray light with elliptical polarization, a special shape in which the direction of light waves’ oscillation is changing. This method could provide experimentalists with a simple technique to generate such light, which is beneficial for physicists to further understand the interactions between electrons in materials on the quantum level, paving the way for designing better electronic devices such as circuit boards, solar panels, and more.

As reported in a new Science Advances paper, the JILA team and collaborators from universities in Sweden, Greece, and Germany probed the spin dynamics within a special material known as a Heusler compound: a mixture of metals that behaves like a single magnetic material. For this study, the researchers utilized a compound of cobalt, manganese, and gallium, which behaved as a conductor for electrons whose spins were aligned upwards and as an insulator for electrons whose spins were aligned downwards.

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.

Recently graduated Ph.D. researchers Bin Wang and Nathan Brooks, working with JILA Fellows Margaret Murnane and Henry Kapteyn, developed a novel method that uses short-wavelength light with a special vortex or donut shape to scan these repeating surfaces, resulting in more varied diffraction patterns. This allowed the researchers to capture high-fidelity image reconstructions using this new approach, which they recently published in Optica.

While academia has traditionally been the primary path for physicists, the industrial sector offers unique opportunities and advantages. This was certainly the case for Dr. Bin Wang, who was recently a JILA postdoctoral researcher, now a Senior Software Engineer at ASML.

JILA graduate student Yingchao Zhang, working with JILA Fellows Henry Kapteyn and Margaret Murnane and University of Colorado Boulder physics professor Rahul Nandkishore, utilized a powerful new method to precisely identify phonon interactions within quantum materials, the results of which were published in Nano Letters. Using ultraprecise, timed laser pulses, and extreme ultraviolet pulses, they measured the response times and saw precisely how the electrons and phonons interacted. This method paves the way for better control and manipulation of quantum materials.

The JILA and NIST communities are recently saddened by the passing of physicist James “Jim” E. Faller. Faller was a visionary whose scientific contributions have contributed to our understanding of the universe. Faller’s work as a JILA Fellow spanned over 50 years (since 1972), and he remained actively engaged in the scientific research process, serving as NIST QPD Division Chief for a time. With heavy hearts, we bid farewell to a brilliant mind, a passionate explorer, and a respected member of the scientific community.