(Press-News.org) In a joint project between the Universities of Strathclyde and Glasgow, Imperial College London and the National Physical Laboratory, researchers have developed a portable way to produce ultracold atoms for quantum technology and quantum information processing.
Their research has been published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, where it is featured on the front cover.
Many of the most accurate measurement devices, including atomic clocks, work by observing how atoms transfer between individual quantum states. The highest precision is obtained with long observation times, often using slow-moving ultracold atoms prepared in a large apparatus.
Dr Aidan Arnold, a Lecturer in Strathclyde's Department of Physics, said: "The longer the transition of atoms can be observed, the more precisely they can be measured. It is possible to shine laser light on atoms to slow them down using the Doppler effect. We can now do this in a really small device."
The researchers have developed technology which is far more compact than previous setups but can still cool and trap large numbers of atoms for use in portable devices. They pattern the surface of a semiconductor chip to form a diffraction grating, splitting a laser into many beams that cool the atoms.
Professor Ed Hinds, who directs the Centre for Cold Matter at Imperial College London, said: "These specially micro-fabricated diffraction gratings create the perfect laser beams for trapping and cooling atoms."
Portable clocks, magnetometers and accelerometers have wide-ranging applications, including navigation on earth and in space, telecomunications, geological exploration, and medical imaging.
Dr Alastair Sinclair, Principal Scientist at the National Physical Laboratory, said: "The miniaturisation of atomic sensors using these optical gratings can make an important contribution to metrology and high-precision measurement."
Professor Charlie Ironside of the School of Engineering at the University of Glasgow said: "The specialized optical diffraction gratings were co-designed by the groups in the collaboration and some of them were microfabricated in the James Watt Nanofabrication Centre at the University of Glasgow – the work is a good example of how a team of physicists and engineers can collaborate to produce cutting edge technology."
INFORMATION:
The project was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, ESA, the EU AQUTE project, the Wellcome Trust, the UK National Measurement Office, the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Society.
The full research paper can be seen at http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/NNANO.2013.47
Scientists develop device for portable, ultra-precise clocks and quantum sensors
2013-05-09
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Study finds brain system for emotional self-control
2013-05-09
Different brain areas are activated when we choose to suppress an emotion, compared to when we are instructed to inhibit an emotion, according a new study from the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Ghent University.
In this study, published in Brain Structure and Function, the researchers scanned the brains of healthy participants and found that key brain systems were activated when choosing for oneself to suppress an emotion. They had previously linked this brain area to deciding to inhibit movement.
"This result shows that emotional self-control involves ...
Research reveals cancer-suppressing protein 'multitasks'
2013-05-09
The understanding of how a powerful protein called p53 protects against cancer development has been upended by a discovery by Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers.
More than half of human cancers carry defects in the gene for p53, and almost all other cancers, with a normal p53 gene, carry other defects that somehow impair the function of the p53 protein. Inherited mutations in the p53 gene put people at a very high risk of developing a range of cancers.
The p53 protein's functions are normally stimulated by potentially cancer-causing events, such as DNA damage ...
Study finds link between sexual harassment and 'purging' -- in men
2013-05-09
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Men who experience high levels of sexual harassment are much more likely than women to induce vomiting and take laxatives and diuretics in an attempt to control their weight, according to a surprising finding by Michigan State University researchers.
Their study is one of the first to examine the effects of sexual harassment on body image and eating behaviors in both women and men. As expected, women reported more sexual harassment and greater overall weight and shape concerns and disordered eating behavior (such as binge eating) in response to that ...
Power plants: UGA researchers explore how to harvest electricity directly from plants
2013-05-09
Athens, Ga. – The sun provides the most abundant source of energy on the planet. However, only a tiny fraction of the solar radiation on Earth is converted into useful energy.
To help solve this problem, researchers at the University of Georgia looked to nature for inspiration, and they are now developing a new technology that makes it possible to use plants to generate electricity.
"Clean energy is the need of the century," said Ramaraja Ramasamy, assistant professor in the UGA College of Engineering and the corresponding author of a paper describing the process in ...
New method for the early detection of vineyard mildew, powdery mildew and botrytis
2013-05-09
The Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development, Neiker-Tecnalia, has developed a new method for the early detection of the diseases mildew, powdery mildew and botrytis in vines. The new methodology based on molecular biology techniques makes it possible to detect the disease before the symptoms appear on the plant. That way it is possible to carry out the rapid treatment of the plots or areas affected and prevent the disease from spreading all over vineyard, which reduces infective pressure. The R&D centre has also studied the evolution of infection by the ...
Research finds opportunity in health care system to reach out to youth contemplating suicide
2013-05-09
TORONTO, May 9, 2013—More than 80 per cent of youth who die by suicide had some form of contact with the health care system in the year before their death, according to a new study from St. Michael's Hospital.
"This suggests there are a lot of opportunities for prevention," said Dr. Anne Rhodes, a research scientist at the hospital's Suicide Studies Research Unit. "Most of these youth were seen by an outpatient physician or went to an emergency department where they could have potentially benefited from an intervention."
Among those seen by an outpatient physician, ...
Social connections drive the 'upward spiral' of positive emotions and health
2013-05-09
People who experience warmer, more upbeat emotions may have better physical health because they make more social connections, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
The research, led by Barbara Fredrickson of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Bethany Kok of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences also found it is possible for a person to self-generate positive emotions in ways that make him or her physically healthier.
"People tend to liken their emotions ...
Parental addictions linked to adult children's depression
2013-05-09
TORONTO, ON – The offspring of parents who were addicted to drugs or alcohol are more likely to be depressed in adulthood, according to a new study by University of Toronto researchers.
In a paper published online in the journal Psychiatry Research this month, investigators examined the association between parental addictions and adult depression in a representative sample of 6,268 adults, drawn from the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey. Of these respondents, 312 had a major depressive episode within the year preceding the survey and 877 reported that while they ...
Obese students' childbearing risk varies with high school obesity rates
2013-05-09
For young women in high school, the risk of childbearing may depend on the prevalence of obesity in their schools, according to sociologists, who found that as the prevalence of obesity rises in a school, so do the odds of obese high school students bearing children.
"We did find that obese females are at lower risk of having a child while in high school," said Jennifer Buher Kane, recent Penn State Ph. D. recipient and current postdoctoral fellow at Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina. "But that relative risk depends a lot on the type of school ...
Variations in antibiotic prescribing of acute rhinosinusitis in united states ambulatory settings
2013-05-09
Alexandria, VA — Antibiotics for acute rhinosinusitis (ARS) are prescribed frequently— especially for younger adult patients and in primary care settings—despite recent consensus guidelines that discourage antibiotic use in mild cases, according to a study in the May 2013 issue of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery.
"These variations should be of high relevance to policy makers, patients, and clinicians, with implications for payment for quality," the authors state.
The authors set out to identify national variations in using antibiotics to treat ARS. Study data ...