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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a $625 million investment to advance the next phase of the National Quantum Information Science Research Centers, a cornerstone of the National Quantum Initiative. This funding will support five centers dedicated to accelerating quantum technologies that promise transformative impacts on science, industry, and national security. JILA is proud to remain a key partner in QSA through the Q-SEnSE Center, which focuses on quantum sensing and precision measurement.

In a new study, researchers led by JILA and NIST Fellow Jun Ye have shown how to make atomic clocks even more precise by leveraging entanglement. This allows the atoms to “tick” more in sync, reducing the randomness that usually limits how precisely we can measure time.

Their results show that it’s possible to go beyond what’s known as the Standard Quantum Limit (SQL)—a fundamental barrier in quantum measurements—by using a technique called spin squeezing. This work could help improve everything from GPS systems to tests of gravity and the nature of the universe.

Jun Ye's research group has developed a groundbreaking laser system with record-breaking stability, crucial for advancing quantum technologies. By combining a highly stable silicon cavity laser with a frequency comb and a secondary cavity tuned for strontium atoms, the researchers created a laser capable of manipulating quantum states with unprecedented precision. Their system significantly reduces frequency noise, a major hurdle in quantum experiments, and demonstrated its effectiveness by achieving a new fidelity record in quantum gate operations on 3000 neutral atom qubits. This innovation paves the way for more accurate atomic clocks and scalable quantum computing.

JILA is proud to announce that Chuankun Zhang, a former graduate student in CU �Ǹ�Թ� Physics professor and JILA and NIST Fellow Jun Ye’s research group, has been named a recipient of the prestigious 2025 Boeing Quantum Creators Prize. This national honor recognizes early-career researchers whose work is propelling quantum science and engineering in bold new directions.

JILA and NIST Fellow and �Ǹ�Թ� physics professor Jun Ye has been awarded a prestigious 2025 AB Nexus seed grant for his pioneering work in quantum sensing technologies.

In a new theoretical study, physicists at JILA and the �Ǹ�Թ� have proposed a way to make the most precise clocks in the world even more robust—by weaving in the strange, protective properties of topological physics. Their work, published in PRX Quantum, explores how a class of quantum states known as symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases could be used to improve the performance of optical lattice clocks, a cornerstone of modern precision measurement.

Nobel Prize winner Eric Cornell honors his friend and colleague, Jun Ye, in the Coloradan.

In a recent study published in Science, by JILA and NIST Fellows and �Ǹ�Թ� physics professors Jun Ye and Ana Maria Rey, interactions between atoms are explored in depth, focusing on superexchange processes that occur in a three-dimensional optical lattice.

The strange behaviors of high-temperature superconductors—materials that conduct electricity without resistance above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen—and other systems with unusual magnetic properties have fascinated scientists for decades. While researchers have developed mathematical models for these systems, much of the underlying quantum dynamics and phases remain a mystery because of the immense computational difficulty of solving these models.

Jun Ye, a distinguished Fellow at JILA and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and a physics professor at the �Ǹ�Թ�, has been honored with the 2025 Berthold Leibinger Zukunftspreis.