Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have created a new thermometer using atoms boosted to such high energy levels that they are a thousand times larger than normal. By monitoring how these giant “Rydberg” atoms interact with heat in their environment, researchers can measure temperature with remarkable accuracy. The thermometer’s sensitivity could improve temperature measurements in fields ranging from quantum research to industrial manufacturing.
Laboratory setup for using giant “Rydberg” atoms to measure temperature. The glowing red orb shows the cloud of approximately one
million rubidium atoms used in the setup (credit: N. Schlossberger/NIST).
February 11, 2025 | Originally published by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on January 23, 2025
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