The blue dot in this photograph is a Barium atom held in Dehmelt’s ion trap. (UW Department of Physics)
When I was a graduate student, my professor drew a dot on the blackboard and said, ‘Here’s an electron,’ but nobody had ever isolated one...
Dehmelt’s Nobel Prize Laureate portrait, shot in about 1989. (Dehmelt Collection, University Archives, Special Collections, UW Libraries)
Physicist Hans Georg Dehmelt devoted his UW career to the study of subatomic particles, held captive for long periods of time, “So,” as he put it, “You could study them to your heart’s content.” His innovative work gained Dehmelt a Nobel Prize in 1989, shared with colleague Wolfgang Paul.
German-born American physicist Dehmelt joined the UW Department of Physics in 1955. In 1973, Dehmelt and his graduate students used an electromagnetic trap to capture a single electron, allowing observation and measurement of the particle’s key properties. They recorded measurements of unprecedented precision, to an accuracy of four parts in a trillion. Able to hold individual electrons, positrons, and other sub-atomic particles trapped for months, Dehmelt and his team were able to isolate a single barium ion, visible as a tiny blue-white star, and photograph it.
Dr. Dehmelt continued his distinguished work on ion traps at UW until his 2002 retirement. Aside from the Nobel Prize. he has been honored with every possible award in his field, including the National Medal of Science. Through this research, the invisible world has been made visible, making it possible to see into the very heart of matter.
Linear Ion Trap at the University of Calgary (By Upload to Commons: Akriesch 19:47, 14 April 2006 (UTC) Original on English Wikipedia: en:Danfoste - From English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0)
Further Reading
“UW Professor Wins Nobel Prize – ‘Elated’ German-born Physicist” (PDF)
Local coverage of Dr. Dehmelt’s Nobel prize, 10/12/1989
Seattle Times
“A Single Atomic Particle Forever Floating at Rest” (PDF)
Paper by Dr. Hans Dehmelt, updating the field on the experimental spectroscopy work at the UW.
Physica Scripta 1988 102
“Basic Measurements Lead to Physics Nobel” (PDF)
This article in the publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science identifies the everyday results of Nobel Prize winning physics: This work on atomic properties led to atomic clocks, magnetic resonance imaging, and verification of quantum mechanics.
Science, New Series. Vol. 246 No. 928 (October 20, 1989)
“Ion Trap Quantum Computation” (PDF)
This article reviews the physics of ion traps, explaining clearly how each works.
Los Alamos Science Number 27 (2002)
“Less is More: Experiments with an Individual Atomic Particle at Rest in Free Space” (PDF)
Dr. Hans Dehmelt described the history of his work with Penning Traps through 1989.
American Journal of Physics 58, 17 (1990)
“Dehmelt’s World of Subatomic Particles” (PDF)
Local newspaper articles quotes Department of Physics chair Mark
McDermott on the day of Dehmelt’s Nobel, stating that his work “opens a whole new realm of possibilities in precision measurement of individual particles,” 10/12/1989
Seattle Times
Additional Resources
Nobel Prize Autobiography
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1989/dehmelt/biographical/
Dehmelt Papers Finding Aid
https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv06518/op=fstyle.aspx?t=k&q=Dehmelt
Brief Biography
https://www.washington.edu/alumni/columns/march98/dehmelt.html
UW Columns Article
https://www.washington.edu/alumni/columns/dec95/dehmelt.html
