JILA PFC Homepage | JILA Physics Frontier Center

The transducer developed by the Lehnert and Regal research groups uses side-banded cooling to convert microwave photons to optical photons

Connecting Microwave and Optical Frequencies through the Ground State of a Micromechanical Object

The process of developing a quantum computer has seen significant progress in the past 20 years. Quantum computers are designed to solve complex problems using the intricacies of quantum mechanics. These computers…

An illustration of the efficient and continuously operating electro-optomechanical transducer whose mechanical mode has been optically sideband-cooled to its quantum ground state. This is the tool that will be used to convert microwave photons into optical photons to eventually send quantum signals over long distances.

New Research Reveals A More Robust Qubit System, even with a Stronger Laser Light

Qubits are a basic building block for quantum computers, but they’re also notoriously fragile—tricky to observe without erasing their information in the process. Now, new research from CU Boulder and the National…

A rendering of a ytterbium qubit held within a set of optical tweezers

Tweezing a New Kind of Qubit

JILA has a long history in quantum research, advancing the state of the art in the field as its Fellows study various quantum effects. One of these Fellowsis Adam Kaufman. Kaufman and his laboratory team work on…

Selected atoms (green) within doubly occupied sites of a 2D "Fermi Sea" are excited by a polarized laser pulse. Pauli blocking prevents decay of the excited atoms (red) as they can only decay into unoccupied sites (black).

An Atomic Game of Duck, Duck, Goose

Physics has always been a science of rules. In many situations, these rules lead to clear and simple theoretical predictions which, nevertheless, are hard to observe in actual experimental settings where other…

Comparison of 2-level and 6-level atom decay paths. For 6-level systems, each state can potentially decay into several states and some of them might be dark due to destructive interference.

Running in a Quantum Corn Maze and Getting Stuck in the Dark

Light is emitted when an atom decays from an excited state to a lower energy ground state, with the emitted photon carrying away the energy. The spontaneous emission of light is a fundamental process that originates…

A depiction showing the interaction between ultra cold compressed 2D gas layers of KRb molecules

Electrifying Molecular Interactions

Worldwide, many researchers are interested in controlling atomic and molecular interactions. This includes JILA and NIST fellows Jun Ye and Ana Maria Rey, both of whom have spent years researching interacting…

Major Activities

Latest News

JILA Fellow Eric Cornell (left) shows CU President Todd Saliman (right) around his laboratory

May 23, 2022 | The University of Colorado's President Saliman Visits JILA

University of Colorado President Todd Saliman visited JILA this past week and toured the laboratories at the invitation of JILA and NIST Fellow Eric Cornell.

Saliman was impressed by the research team and Fellows and applauded their work.

“You are all working to change the world,” President Saliman said.

Recent Publications

Ytterbium Nuclear-Spin Qubits in an Optical Tweezer Array

A. Jenkins, Lis, J., Senoo, A., McGrew, W. F., and Kaufman, A. M., Phys. Rev. X 12, 021027 (2022).

Investigators: Adam Kaufman

Formation and detection of metastable formic acid in a supersonic expansion: High resolution infrared spectroscopy of the jet-cooled cis-HCOOH conformer

K. Doney, Kortyna, A., Chan, Y. M., and Nesbitt, D., J. Chem. Phys. 156, 204309 (2022).

Investigators:

Entanglement Thresholds of Doubly Parametric Quantum Transducers

C. Rau, Kyle, A., Kwiatkowski, A., Shojaee, E., Teufel, J., Lehnert, K. W., and Dennis, T., Phys. Rev. Applied 17, 044057 (2022).

Investigators: Konrad Lehnert

Reactions between layer-resolved molecules mediated by dipolar spin exchange

W. Tobias, Matsuda, K., Li, J. -R., Miller, C., Carroll, A., Bilitewski, T., Rey, A. M., and Ye, J., Science 375, 1299-1303 (2022).

Investigators: Ana Maria Rey | Jun Ye

Disentangling Pauli Blocking of Atomic Decay from Cooperative Radiation and Atomic Motion in a 2D Fermi Gas

T. Bilitewski, Piñeiro Orioli, A., Sanner, C., Sonderhouse, L., Hutson, R. B., Yan, L., Milner, W. R., Ye, J., and Rey, A. M., Physical Review Letters 128, 093001 (2022).

Investigators: Jun Ye | Ana Maria Rey

Longitudinally Modulated Dynamo Action in Simulated M-dwarf Stars

C. Bice and Toomre, J., The Astrophysical Journal 928, 51 (2022).

Investigators: Juri Toomre

About JILA PFC

The JILA Physics Frontier Center (JILA PFC) brings together 20 investigators in collaboration to share goals, ideas, expertise and technology in their aim to realize precise measurement, innovative manipulation, and harvesting ever-more intriguing meaning, all in the world of complex quantum systems.

A theme that runs through all of JILA PFC research is the importance of interactions in understanding and exploiting the nature of quantum many-particle systems. The JILA PFC seeks to foment a new quantum revolution, in which matter with built-in quantum correlation will be understood, controlled, and harnessed. In this process, we will gain new insights into the emergence of universal rules that govern complex materials. At the same time, the JILA PFC envisions inventing novel quantum-measurement approaches for exploring unknown corners of our physical world.

The JILA PFC is housed within the JILA institute, which is a joint institute of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder).