Dehmelt's Penning trap, which he developed in 1955, can confine electrons
and ions in a small space for long periods of time in relative isolation.
In 1973 Dehmelt used his device to isolate a single electron for observation,
an unprecedented feat that opened the way for the precise measurement
of key properties of electrons. Dehmelt and his colleagues went on to
develop methods for measuring atomic frequencies and individual quantum
jumps (the transitions between atomic energy levels) with unprecedented
precision. In the 1970s Dehmelt used his trap to measure an electron's
magnetic moment to an accuracy of four parts in a trillion, the most
precise measurement of that quantity at the time.
Main Page | About Us | All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. Timeline of Nobel Prize Winners is not affiliated with The Nobel Foundation. External sites are not endorsed or supported by http://www.nobel-winners.com/ Copyright © 2003 All Rights Reserved.