
The quest for a spontaneous synchronization at the atomic scale has led to its first experimental observation by Arif Laskar and his colleagues at IIT Kanpur. The work published in Physical Review Letter can act as a basis for synchronizing quantum networks, for the usage of synchronized quantum probes in sensing and meterology or for searching and understanding new, synchronous collective states.
For the experiment, Laskar and his team used spin-1 atoms that are cooled very close to absolute zero using lasers and magnetic fields. After preparing the atoms in a state that make them natural “oscillators,” they stored a pulse of light in these atoms. Interestingly, the act of storing the light pulse synchronized the atoms to the phases due to applied optical and magnetic fields. They confirmed synchronization by recovering the light pulse from the atoms at a later time and reconstructing the atomic state from the pulse.

Link to publication: (https://journals.aps.org/prl/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.013601)