The Boulder School for Condensed Matter and Materials Physics presents a public lecture: 

Building the Quantum Microscopes of the Future: From Star Wars to Quantum Sculpting

Margaret Murnane, JILA, University of Colorado, Boulder

Abstract: For decades, scientists have pursued a bold goal: creating a laser that works not just with visible light but with powerful X-rays. Conventional X-ray sources, essential in medicine, security, and technology, are based on principles dating back to Röntgen’s discovery in 1895, essentially a brighter, more advanced X-ray light bulb. But just as lasers revolutionized the way we harness visible light, an X-ray laser would unlock extraordinary new capabilities in science and technology. The challenge? Generating such intense, precise X-ray beams once required enormous machines and extreme conditions. Remarkably, advances in quantum physics have changed this. Researchers can now create compact, tabletop X-ray lasers, a breakthrough opening the door to next-generation microscopes that reveal the nano-world with stunning clarity and in real time. This lecture will explore how quantum science made this possible and what it means for the future of imaging, materials, and more.

Margaret Murnane runs a joint, multi-disciplinary, research group with her husband, Prof. Henry Kapteyn. She received her B.S and M.S. degrees from University College Cork, Ireland, and her Ph.D. degree from UC Berkeley. Margaret, with her group and collaborators, uses coherent beams of laser and x-ray light to capture the structure and function of materials at the nanoscale. She currently Directs the STROBE NSF Science and Technology Center. Her groundbreaking work has earned her many of the highest honors in science, including the MacArthur Fellowship (‘Genius Grant’), the Frederic Ives Medal/Quinn Prize from Optica, the Isaac Newton Medal of Physics, the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics, the Maria Goeppert-Mayer Award, and election to both the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Sponsored by the Boulder School for Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, the National Science Foundation, and the University of Colorado Boulder Physics Dept. For more information visit boulderschool.yale.edu