News: Research Highlights

Thu January 1, 2009

High-sensitivity diamond magnetometer with nanoscale resolution

J. M. Taylor, P. Cappellaro, L. Childress, L. Jiang, D. Budker, P. R. Hmmer, A. Yacoby, R. Walsworth, and M. D.Lukin, High-sensitivity diamond magnetometer with nanoscale resolution, Nature Physics 4, 810-816 (2008).

News type:

Research Highlights

Thu January 1, 2009

Swimming in the Fermi Sea

Our world is run by electrons. Whether we switch on a light, browse the internet or play music on the iPod, it is electrons moving through the wires, chips and headphones. But how do electrons actually get from A to B? After all, they have to get through a solid, a crystal maze of countless atoms. On their way through the solid, electrons push and pull nearby atoms around, attracting positive charges and repelling negative ones. Its like an espalier, with arms flying high wherever the electron goes. These distortions in the crystal lattice thus closely follow the electron, and in fact the electron and the lattice deformations can be said to form a new entity or quasi-particle, called the polaron. Since the electron has to drag the lattice distortions with it, the polaron is heavier than an electron moving in empty space. That means a polaron is less inclined than a bare electron to change its speed or direction of motion if someone pulls on it. Polarons are ubiquitous in solid state materials, they are crucial for the understanding of colossal magnetoresistance, and they are responsible for conduction in fullerenes and polymers.

News type:

Research Highlights

Thu January 1, 2009

Modulation Spectroscopy and Dynamics of Double Occupancies in a Fermionic Mott Insulator

R. Sensarma, D. Pekker, M. D. Lukin, and E. Demler, Modulation Spectroscopy and Dynamics of Double Occupancies in a Fermionic Mott Insulator, Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 035303 (2009).

News type:

Research Highlights

Tue January 1, 2008

Suppression of Inelastic Collisions between Polar molecules with a Repulsive Shield

A. Gorshkov, P. R. G. Pupillo, A. Micheli, P. Zoller, M. D. Lukin, and H. P. Buchler, Suppression of Inelastic Collisions between Polar Molecules with a Repulsive Shield, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 073201 (2008).

News type:

Research Highlights

Tue January 1, 2008

New Frontiers in Cold Atom Trapping

N. Brahms, B. Newman, C. Johnson, T. Greytak, D. Kleppner, and J. M. Doyle, Magnetic Trapping of Silver and Copper, and Anomalous Spin Relaxation in the Ag-He System, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 103002 (2008).

News type:

Research Highlights

Tue January 1, 2008