PhD Position on Hybrid Materials for Quantum Sensors
Institut de Recherche de Chimie Paris – Université PSL – Chimie ParisTech – CNRS
11 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris
Quantum technologies aim to develop new functionalities impossible to obtain in classical systems, for communications, data processing or sensors. Among the systems considered for these technologies, colour centers in diamond and crystals doped with rare earth ions (RE) are particularly promising. They are being intensively studied and have led to significant advances in magnetometry, quantum memories and quantum computing.
However, these two materials have distinct characteristics: the nitrogen-vacancy (NV-) center in diamond has an electron spin whose quantum states have long lifetimes, even at room temperature; the RE ions have optical transitions that can form quantum interfaces with light in a wide spectral range from infrared to UV. A diamond-rare earth hybrid structure could combine these remarkable properties at the quantum level, which no system has so far been able to do. This PhD project, that has already received funding, aims to achieve this goal in the framework of the ERC Advanced Grant RareDiamond.
This work will take place in the group Crystals and Quantum State Dynamics at IRCP
(http://www.cqsd.fr - PSL University - Chimie ParisTech - CNRS). Since many years, the team is internationally recognized for the synthesis, spectroscopy, and development of rare-earth ion-doped crystals for quantum technologies. The project will also involve the LSPM laboratory (Sorbonne Paris Nord University), which specializes in diamond synthesis for these same applications.
The project will have three main components. First, the development of an existing confocal microscopy experiment adapted to RE and NV- centers will be pursued to allow optical and microwave measurements in a pulsed excitation regime. In a second step, the interactions between RE and NV- centers will be characterized on this confocal bench and numerically modeled to optimize the hybrid structures. This part will be done in close interaction with the students and researchers in charge of the synthesis of hybrid materials within the ERC project. Finally, the potential of these materials as quantum sensors of magnetic fields will be explored in different configurations: high spatial resolution using single NV- centers or large ensembles for high sensitivity.
Contact : Philippe Goldner –
philippe.goldner@chimieparistech.psl.eu