• Official websites use .govA.govwebsite belongs to an official government organization in the United States. • Secure .gov websites use HTTPSAlock(LockA locked padlock) orhttps://means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. • Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. • https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2025/12/nist-physicists-bring-unruly-molecules-quantum-party NIST Physicists Bring Unruly Molecules to the Quantum Party Share Molecules can serve as versatile building blocks for quantum technologies, but they are much harder to control than atoms. • Using laser-based techniques developed for atomic clocks, NIST physicists employed a “helper” calcium atom to control a calcium monohydride molecule nearly perfectly. • This method could allow scientists to use a wide range of molecules for specific quantum tasks, explore physics beyond the Standard Model and potentially control chemical reactions.
Article Summaries:
- NIST physicists have achieved unprecedented control over a charged calcium‑monohydride (CaH⁺) molecule, a step toward using complex molecules in quantum technologies. By trapping the molecule together with a single calcium ion and applying quantum‑logic spectroscopy, the team used the laser‑coolable calcium ion to indirectly cool, detect, and manipulate the molecule’s rotational state. This method allowed the researchers to change the molecule’s rotation and read out its state via photons emitted by the helper ion, extending the molecule’s coherence time tenfold compared to room‑temperature conditions. The breakthrough opens possibilities for quantum computing, precision sensing, and fundamental physics studies with molecules.
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