Lily Childress, McGill University, Coupling Diamond Defects to High-Finesse Optical Microcavities

Zoom Details

Seminar
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Zoom Link: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/84908102059?pwd=TENtVDVZcFlZWlR2c1A1ekVRbmI5QT09

Meeting ID: 849 0810 2059 and Password: qfSeminar

Speaker

Lily Childress
Physics Department
McGill University

Bio

Lilian Childress is an associate professor in the physics department at McGill University. After completing her Ph.D. at Harvard University in 2007, she was an assistant professor at Bates College and a postdoc at Yale before joining McGill in 2013. Her research employs defect centers in diamond for applications in quantum information and metrology, currently focused on creating a spin-photon interface by integrating diamond defects into fiber-based micro-cavities and investigating dynamics of spin-transfer-driven nanomagnets using defect-based probes. Other recent interests include optimal qubit readout, charge state dynamics of defect centers, optomechanics with superfluid helium, and micro-cavity-enhanced sensing.

Abstract

Defect centers in a diamond can offer atomic-like optical transitions and long-lived spin degrees of freedom. Integrating them into high-quality optical resonators opens a route toward realizing a cavity quantum electrodynamics system combining atomic-like coherence with a robust solid-state platform. While approaches based on diamond nanophotonics have been pursued for more than a decade, Fabry-Perot microcavities present a complementary approach that has recently received significant attention. This talk will consider the potential benefits and challenges to open micro-cavities, examine progress toward coupling them to diamond defect centers, and discuss our development of a passively and actively stabilized cryogenic system.