{"id":134366,"date":"2025-08-10T12:51:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T12:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/134366\/"},"modified":"2025-08-10T12:51:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T12:51:15","slug":"scientists-levitate-300-million-atoms-at-room-temp-for-quantum-purity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/134366\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists levitate 300 million atoms at room temp for quantum purity"},"content":{"rendered":"

A team of researchers from ETH Zurich has reached an impressive milestone in quantum physics by levitating a cluster of three nano-glass spheres, composed of 300 million atoms. <\/p>\n

The spheres, each ten times smaller than a human hair, were lifted using an optical device and laser beams.<\/p>\n

During the team\u2019s experiments, the tower-like cluster of spheres was held nearly motionless, marking a potentially significant step for quantum sensor development.<\/p>\n

The findings, led by adjunct professor of photonics Martin Frimmer, were published in the journal Nature Physics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A quantum levitation experiment<\/p>\n

The experiments could aid in the development of sensitive quantum sensors. These, in turn, would help to advance real-world technologies, including navigation systems and medical imaging devices.<\/p>\n

The team employed an optical tweezer to effectively neutralize gravity in their experiments. To do so, they focused a polarized laser light in a vacuum to stabilize the nano-cluster.<\/p>\n

Still, the cluster exhibited a subtle trembling motion while it was held in place. Physicists call this zero-point fluctuation, a quantum phenomenon where no object can remain completely still.<\/p>\n

The cluster oscillated at one million deflections per second. Each oscillation was measured at a mere thousandth of a degree. <\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to quantum mechanics, no object can ever be perfectly still,\u201d Lorenzo Dania, the study\u2019s first author and a postdoc in Frimmer\u2019s group, explained in a press statement<\/a>. \u201cThe larger the object, the harder it is to observe these fluctuations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ETH team set multiple records with their experiment. They achieved unprecedented precision in detecting these tiny quantum movements in an object of this size. The nano-cluster was composed of hundreds of millions of atoms, which is very large in the world of quantum mechanics.<\/p>\n

By suppressing any disturbances that originate from classical physics, they attributed 92 percent of the cluster\u2019s motion to quantum effects, achieving a high level of quantum purity. <\/p>\n

Notably, this was also accomplished at room temperature, eliminating the need for costly cooling to near absolute zero (-273\u00b0C), a standard requirement in most quantum research.<\/p>\n

Research could enable \u2018transformative quantum technologies\u2019<\/p>\n

Frimmer likened the team\u2019s achievement to building a vehicle that carries more cargo while using less fuel. The experiment\u2019s success at room temperature and its cost-effective approach make it a promising platform for future quantum technologies. <\/p>\n

According to the team, their focus on larger systems, rather than single atoms, could revolutionize fields including navigation and medical imaging. <\/p>\n

Their methodology could also be utilized to detect tiny forces from gas molecules or particles, helping in dark matter research. \u201cThis is a perfect start for further research that could lead to transformative quantum technologies,\u201d Frimmer said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A team of researchers from ETH Zurich has reached an impressive milestone in quantum physics by levitating a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":134367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[81235,492,28543,8068,159,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-134366","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-physics","8":"tag-atom","9":"tag-physics","10":"tag-quantum-computers","11":"tag-quantum-mechanics","12":"tag-science","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115004564022229508","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}