News and Updates

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Three qubits appear in an artist’s conception as X-shaped icons that fit together.

Novel ‘Quantum Refrigerator’ Is Great at Erasing Quantum Computer’s Chalkboard

January 9, 2025

Quantum computers need a "clean" workspace, and a team including scientists at NIST has found a way to make one.

Profile: Quantum Physicist Alexey Gorshkov Tackles the Big Problems

January 7, 2025

It’s hard enough to track the interactions of even a handful of quantum particles, but physicist Alexey Gorshkov has taken on an even more daunting task. He

Just for KICS!

December 2, 2024

Sensors capable of detecting individual photons of visible light have become essential for applications ranging from imaging faint galaxies to quantum computing

Incoming radiation deposits energy into the TKID circuit.

NIST Study Probes the Damaging Effects of Radiation on Qubits

November 19, 2024

Qubits, the fundamental unit of quantum information, form the building blocks of quantum computers. Because qubits are not limited to the two states, “0” and “1

Table in darkened lab holds wiring and other laser electronics; a circular light source is situated above.

Major Leap for Nuclear Clock Paves Way for Ultraprecise Timekeeping

September 4, 2024

These clocks could lead to improved timekeeping and navigation, faster internet speeds, and advances in fundamental physics research.

What Time Is It on the Moon?

August 12, 2024

New lunar time proposal is a first step for Moon GPS.

Close-up of a scientific instrument with wires and a circular metallic component, illuminated by blue light, featuring a small red dot at the center.

World’s Most Accurate and Precise Atomic Clock Pushes New Frontiers in Physics

July 1, 2024

The clock is the latest demonstration that a much more precise definition of the official second is possible and that new applications of clocks are feasible.

With Some Bumps, NIST Scientists Devise a Novel Way to Extend the Wavelength Range of Microcombs

June 5, 2024

Microcombs – chip-scale devices that generate and measure frequencies of light with exquisite accuracy – have transformed timekeeping and boosted optical

The Big Quantum Chill: NIST Scientists Modify Common Lab Refrigerator to Cool Faster With Less Energy

April 23, 2024

By modifying a refrigerator commonly used in both research and industry, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have

Scientist working at scientific equipment

Spotlight: The Real-World Applications of Quantum With Julia Scherschligt

April 15, 2024

For NIST physicist Julia Scherschligt, the most exciting thing about quantum is seeing the real-world applications of this science. Julia leads a group that is

Spotlight: Building the Next Generation of Quantum Computers and Networks With Tasshi Dennis

April 15, 2024

When NIST scientist Tasshi Dennis first encountered quantum physics as a student, he was skeptical it would ever amount to any practical applications. Little

Illustration shows tiny columns of light in different colors standing vertically along circuits on a chip.

Spotlight: Chip-Scale Frequency Combs Can Be Integrated With Other Sensors

April 2, 2024

Frequency combs — specialized lasers that act like rulers to measure light — are now being brought down to a low-power, chip-scale form. NIST researchers David

Bullseye! NIST Devises a Method to Accurately Center Quantum Dots Within Photonic Chips

March 18, 2024

Devices that capture the brilliant light from millions of quantum dots, including chip-scale lasers and optical amplifiers, have made the transition from

NIST Physicist Sae Woo Nam, Pioneer in Single-Photon Detectors, Passes Away

March 1, 2024

During his 25-year career at NIST, Sae Woo performed groundbreaking work. He died in January at 53.

Microwave Detectors and Multiplexing: NIST Researchers Help Astronomers Examine the Early Universe

January 24, 2024

Perched atop a high plateau in Chile’s Atacama Desert, a long-awaited observatory is beginning to take shape: the largest suite of ground-based telescopes

NIST Researchers Help Design a Prototype Quantum Computer

December 20, 2023

Researchers have created a prototype quantum computer with a record number of qubits—the analog of bits in an ordinary computer—capable of performing logical

New Frequency Comb Can Identify Molecules in 20-Nanosecond Snapshots

October 30, 2023

Laser-based system now has the ability to capture moment-to-moment details of high-speed processes such as hypersonic propulsion and protein folding.

Twisted Science: NIST Researchers Find a New Quantum Ruler to Explore Exotic Matter

October 5, 2023

A single-atom-thick sheet of carbon known as graphene has remarkable properties on its own, but things can get even more interesting when you stack up multiple

NIST Researchers Develop a Breakthrough COVID-19 Detection Technology

October 2, 2023

“Only connect” is the most famous line in the British novelist E. M. Forster’s writings. Forster was urging the readers of his book Howard’s End to make

Illustration of a pair of tweezers surrounding a beam of light that illuminates a line of atoms, each with an analog clock face in the center and an up and down arrow pointing through it.

New Spin-Squeezing Techniques Let Atoms Work Together for Better Quantum Measurements

September 25, 2023

Opening new possibilities for quantum sensors, atomic clocks and tests of fundamental physics, JILA researchers have developed new ways of “entangling” or

Four researchers pose standing in a lab, smiling and wearing safety glasses, surrouded by wires and other electronics.

NIST Demonstrates a New ‘Primary Standard’ for Measuring Ultralow Pressures

August 10, 2023

Chip manufacturing, gravitational wave detectors and quantum computers could all benefit from better ways to measure a vacuum.

Two people wearing coveralls in a "clean room" lab look up at a disk-shaped object that one of them is holding.

Spotlight: Detecting the Inner Workings and Origins of Our Universe With NIST Researcher Tammy Lucas

July 20, 2023

NIST researcher Tammy Lucas is building tools to help astronomers and cosmologists look back in time to the earliest moments of our universe — and see what we

New NIST Licensing Opportunity Teems with Potential Applications

July 5, 2023

Max Planck, one of the Twentieth Century’s most eminent physicists, observed, "An experiment is a question that science poses to Nature, and a measurement is

NIST-Designed Photonic Chip Transforms a Single Beam of Light Into Multiple Beams, Each With a Panoply of Different Properties

June 30, 2023

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have devised a photonic circuit on a chip that transforms a single incoming beam of

Jun Ye: A Timely Profile

June 26, 2023

Physicist Jun Ye has a knack for making every second count—literally. At JILA, a joint research institute of the University of Colorado and the National

Atomic / Molecular / Quantum