New Centre Set to Unlock Secrets of the Atom Laser
23 July 2003
A laser beam made up of atoms will be just one of the tools produced by a new Quantum-Atom Optics research centre based at the Australian National University.
The new ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum-Atom Optics (ACQAO) will be opened on Wednesday, July 23 at 10.15am, and promises to set Australia at the forefront of laser technology. It will have a staff of 50 people based in 3 universities. The Centre involves collaboration between the ANU, the University of Queensland and the Swinburne University of Technology. It will be also linked with partners in New Zealand, Britain, The Netherlands, France and Germany. It will be led by ANU Professor Hans Bachor, Federation Fellow. "We have an atom laser that is a first building block for instruments such as very sensitive sensors or alternatively, a refined way of optical communication", states Prof. Bachor. "We also combine visionary theoretical ideas with experimental demonstration and the design of practical instruments". "We are going to create a new scientific toolbox so that new machines can be built which make full use of the quantum properties of light and atoms", Prof. Bachor said. "Other devices to be built from our fundamental research work are extremely sensitive sensors for the detection of minerals or more powerful memory devices for computers".
Prof. William Phillips, Nobel Laureate from the USA, arrived in Canberra today to attend the official launch of the Centre along with guests from the diplomatic corps, interstate universities, politicians and academics from ANU.
Professor Phillips, recipient of 19 Awards & Honours including the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1997, is currently involved in the PARCS project, an atomic clock mission scheduled to fly to the International Space Station in 2008 that will allow the study of laser-cooled atoms in microgravity. |
physics.uq.edu.au)