Search receives NSF grant for cavity quantum electrodynamics research
Stevens physics professor will study new applications of cavity QED
HOBOKEN , N.J. – Christopher P. Search, Assistant Professor of Physics at Stevens Institute of Technology, has been awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to support research on the project, “Creating new states of matter with cavity QED: From photoassociation to spintronics.”
Cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) is one of the main tools of physicists to explore the non-classical quantum world. The high quality factors of modern optical cavities combined with the ability to achieve strong coupling between a cavity mode and a single quantum emitter have made cavity QED the perfect laboratory for exploring quantum mechanics with an eye towards directly testing fundamental principles of quantum mechanics and developing quantum information processing devices.
Search, the Principle Investigator, plans to develop and investigate a fully quantum model of cavity assisted photoassociation (CAP). This a completely new avenue of research pioneered at Stevens by Search in collaboration with Dr. Markku Jaaskelainen, also in the Department of Physics, and former Stevens Ph.D. student Dr. Jaeyoon Jeong. The goal of this research is to develop new methods for coherently controlling the formation of molecules from free atoms using nonclassical quantum states of light. Engineering the molecular bonding process using light will revolutionize our control of the microscopic world.
The second direction will be applications of Cavity QED to semiconductor devices with the goal of controlling the electrical properties of nanoscale semiconductor circuits using light. This work is in collaboration with Dr. Ivana Djuric, a Stevens alumnus. Preliminary work published in Physical Review B by Search and Djuric has shown that a quantum dot inside of an optical cavity could be an efficient source of spin currents and could be used as an optically controlled spin current switch.
“We propose a research program that studies new applications of cavity QED based on novel extensions of the Jaynes-Cummings model. Just as cavity QED has evolved along two tracks based on the type of emitter and cavity, atoms in a Fabry-Perot cavity or quantum dots grown inside of a semiconductor microcavity, the proposed research will look at new applications in both areas,” said Search.About Stevens Institute of Technology
Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.
Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,040 undergraduate and 3,085 graduate students, and a worldwide online enrollment of 2,250, with a full-time tenured/tenure-track faculty of 140 and more than 200 full-time special faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.
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