CQuIC Seminars
Atomic physics in a semiconductor vacuum: Quantum optics and nanoscale sensing in diamond
Presented by Victor Acosta, Researcher, Google. Acosta is a research scientist at Google [x]. Previously he was a postdoc in Charles Santori and Ray Beausoleil's group at HP Labs, where he led efforts to integrate NV centers into photonic circuits for quantum computing and sensing. Victor did his PhD work in Dmitry Budker's AMO group in the UC Berkeley Physics dept, graduating in 2011. There he studied the basic physics underlying optical sensors based on alkali vapor cells as well as diamond NV centers. Victor has co-authored more than 30 peer-reviewed journal articles, including 7 in Physical Review Letters, and has delivered more than 20 invited talks at international conferences and academic seminars.
Research in solid-state "artificial atoms" seeks to merge atomic physics and condensedmatter nanotechnology to tackle outstanding problems in the life, physical, and information sciences. An ideal artificial atom has the coherent spin and optical properties of dilute atomic vapor in a solid-state platform amenable to scalable nanofabrication. Isolated color centers hosted in defect-engineered, wide-bandgap semiconductors may offer the best of both worlds. In particular, the nitrogen vacancy (NV) center in diamond is a promising system due to its atom-scale electronic wavefunction, long-lived paramagnetic ground state, and spin-selective optical transitions even at room temperature. For quantum information applications, NV centers serve as spin qubits that can be locally controlled using microwaves/optics and remotely entangled by interference of indistinguishable emitted photons. I will discuss progress in fabricating nanophotonic networks containing spectrally-pure NV centers embedded in high-quality optical cavities, including demonstration of Purcell-enhanced spontaneous emission and dynamic spectral control via the Stark effect. I will also present observation of electromagnetically-induced transparency with NV ensembles and discuss prospects for ultralow- power nonlinear optics approaching the elusive single-photon transistor.
Another frontier is the use of semiconductor artificial atoms as ultra-sensitive nanoscale sensors of electromagnetic fields and temperature. I will present results using a diamond magnetic microscope to image magnetism in high-Tc superconductors with nT sensitivity and sub-micron spatial resolution over a wide temperature range. Finally I will discuss applications of nanostructured diamond devices for unconventional techniques in nuclear magnetic resonance, including room-temperature hyperpolarization of solutions and nanoscale MRI with wide-field optical readout.
10:30 am, Friday, April 18, 2014
Room 101, Center for High Tech Materials
Science and Technology Park - South Campus
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A schedule of talks within the Department of Physics and Astronomy is available on the P&A web site at http://physics.unm.edu/pandaweb/events/index.php