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Mission

The Division carries out a broad range of experimental and theoretical research in atomic physics in support of emerging technologies, industrial needs, and national science programs. Specifically, the Division:

• undertakes experimental and theoretical research on quantum processes in atomic, molecular, and nanoscale systems, and it explores atomic interactions in plasmas and with surfaces;

• provides measurements, standards, and data support for specific needs in various industrial and scientific applications such as the processing of materials by plasmas and ion beams, commercial and residential lighting, optical materials characterization, spectrochemistry, x-ray analysis of thin films, and fusion plasma diagnostics;

• contributes to advances in fundamental standards by atomic fountain clock research, by studies of the Si-lattice for the unit of mass and by refining the electromagnetic scale through the linking of standards in the visible to others in the x-ray and gamma-ray regions;

• develops well-characterized atomic radiation sources and systems as secondary standards for wavelength calibrations and for vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) source radiometry;

• advances the physics of laser cooling and electromagnetic trapping and the optical manipulation of neutral atoms using Bose condensates and optical lattices; and

• critically evaluates and compiles spectroscopic data and creates databases on wavelengths, energy levels, transition probabilities, and line widths and shifts, including x-ray wavelengths.

Organization

The Division is organized into five technical groups: atomic spectroscopy, quantum processes, plasma radiation, laser cooling and trapping, and quantum metrology. In each group several research projects are pursued. Many of these involve collaborations with other groups, either within the Division, with other Divisions of the Physics Laboratory, other Laboratories at NIST, or with outside groups. The Division has about 33 professional staff members, 10 postdocs, and about 39 longer-term (>3 months) guest scientists and contractors.

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"Technical Activities 2000" - Table of Contents