JILA PFC Homepage

Molecules sparsely occupy a deep 3D optical lattice. Molecules interact with induced dipole moments and transition dipole moments represented by squiggly lines between lattice sites. Lowering the lattice depth in the horizontal direction allows tunneling between sites within layers.
Where Motion Meets Spin: A Quantum Leap in Simulating Magnetism

The strange behaviors of high-temperature superconductors—materials that conduct electricity without resistance above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen—and other systems with unusual magnetic properties have…

Simulation using the gradiometer protocol
Combining Machine Learning with Quantum Metrology: Making a Universal Quantum Sensor

Researchers at JILA and the University of Colorado Boulder have developed an innovative platform that combines machine learning with atom interferometry to create a universal quantum sensor. This system uses…

Teleporting quantum information stored in collective spin states of ions within a two-dimensional crystal
Quantum Teleportation Gets an Ionic 2D Upgrade

Researchers at JILA, led by Ana Maria Rey, developed a new protocol for teleporting quantum information in collective spin states of ions within a two-dimensional crystal. This involves entangling ion groups through…

The many different molecules trying to fill the binding site of octamethyl calix[4]pyrrole (omC4P)
Molecular Lock and Key: Decoding the Secrets of Ion Binding

Understanding how molecules interact with ions is a cornerstone of chemistry, with applications from pollution detection and cleanup to drug delivery. In a series of new studies led by JILA Fellow and University of…

A thorium-doped calcium fluoride crystal's temperature is continually monitored while a VUV frequency comb is used to directly resolve individual quantum states of the nuclear transition.
Dialing in the Temperature Needed for Precise Nuclear Timekeeping

For decades, atomic clocks have been the pinnacle of precision timekeeping, enabling GPS navigation, cutting-edge physics research, and tests of fundamental theories. But researchers at JILA, led by JILA and NIST…

An artist's depiction of the frequency comb's molecular detection in vapor
Using Frequency Combs to Detect Molecules in Your Breath

A team of physicists at the University of Colorado Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed a…

  • 0
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Major Activities

JILA PFC Partnerships

FIU logo.FIU-JILA Partnership for Research and Education in Physics: https://fiujilaprep.fiu.edu/Student-faculty exchange diagram.
 

An NSF-sponsored partnership between FIU Physics and JILA Physics Frontier Center (PFC) for research excellence and diversity in Atomic, Molecular, and Optical (AMO) Physics. Click diagram for a larger image.

Latest News

Jun Ye, a distinguished Fellow at JILA and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and a physics professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, has been honored with the 2025 Berthold Leibinger Zukunftspreis. 

  

Recent Publications

Education for expanding the quantum workforce: Students perceptions of the quantum industry in an upper-division physics capstone course
1 K.A. Oliver, V.. Borish, B.R. Wilcox, and H.J. Lewandowski, Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 21, (2025).
Investigators: Heather Lewandowski
Many-Body Gap Protection against Motional Dephasing of an Optical Clock Transition
1 Z.. Niu, V.. Schäfer, H.. Zhang, C.. Wagner, N.. Taylor, D.. Young, E.. Song, A.. Chu, A.M. Rey, and J.K. Thompson, Physical Review Letters 134, (2025).
Investigators: James Thompson | Ana Maria Rey
Affordances and challenges of incorporating a remote, cloud-accessible quantum experiment into undergraduate courses
1 V.. Borish, and H.J. Lewandowski, Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 21, (2025).
Investigators: Heather Lewandowski
Outcomes from a workshop on a national center for quantum education
1 E.. Barnes, M.. Bennett, A.. Boltasseva, V.. Borish, B.. Brown, L.D. Carr, R.. Ceballos, F.. Dukes, E.. Easton, S.E. Economou, E.. Edwards, N.D. Finkelstein, C.. Fracchiolla, D.. Franklin, J.K. Freericks, V.. Goss, M.. Hannum, N.. Holincheck, A.. Kelly, O.. Lanes, H.J. Lewandowski, K.. Matsler, E.. Mercurio, I.. Montaño, M.. Murdock, K.. Peltz, J.. Perron, C.. Richardson, J.. Rosenberg, R.. Ross, M.. Ryu, R.. Samuel, N.. Schrode, S.. Schwamberger, T.A. Searles, C.. Singh, A.. Tingle, and B.M. Zwickl, EPJ Quantum Technol. 12, (2025).
Investigators: Heather Lewandowski
Termination of bottom-up interstellar aromatic ring formation at C6H5+
1 G.S. Kocheril, C.. Zagorec-Marks, and H.J. Lewandowski, Nature Astronomy (2025).
Investigators: Heather Lewandowski
Temperature sensitivity of a Thorium-229 solid-state nuclear clock
1 J.S. Higgins, T.. Ooi, J.. Doyle, C.. Zhang, J.. Ye, K.. Beeks, T.. Sikorsky, and T.. Schumm, Physical Review Letters 134, (2025).
Investigators: Jun Ye