Researchers at a joint institute of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and University of Colorado in Boulder have measured multiparticle interactions among groups of atoms arrayed within an atomic clock.JILA researchers used a three-dimensioned strontium lattice clock to control several arrays of atoms and used a new imaging technique to measure the particles’ subsequent quantum states, NIST said Wednesday.
The research team created arrays made up of as few as one atom, or as many as five atoms per lattice cell within the atomic clock. The team then triggered the particle interactions using a laser.
Jun Ye, a JILA Fellow, said that the resulting observations could yield knowledge that would make it possible to improve atomic clocks.
Information from the study could also help advance quantum information processing and enhance various kinds of sensors, according to NIST.
NIST sponsored the research effort with NASA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Army Research Office, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, National Science Foundation.
