Mechanical Motion Used to 'Spin' Atoms in a Gas

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Micro-cantilever experiment demonstrating magnetic coupling of mechanical motion to atomic spin. The approximately 200-micrometer cantilever (circled) has a tiny magnetic particle on the free end. Rubidium atoms are confined in the cubic vapor cell t ...
Micro-cantilever experiment demonstrating magnetic coupling of mechanical motion to atomic spin. The approximately 200-micrometer cantilever (circled) has a tiny magnetic particle on the free end. Rubidium atoms are confined in the cubic vapor cell to the left. Credit: Ying-Ju Wang, NIST

For the first time, mechanical motion has been used to make atoms in a gas “spin,” scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology report. The technique eventually might be used in high-performance magnetic sensors, enable power-efficient chip-scale atomic devices such as clocks, or serve as components for manipulating bits of information in quantum computers.


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