Dr. Justin Caram: Developing Molecular Analogs to Atomic Vapor Cells

Date: Wednesday, November 5th, 2025

Location: Elings Hall, room 1601

Time: 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm

Developing Molecular Analogs to Atomic Vapor Cells

Abstract: A prerequisite for realizing quantum advantage in sensing and computing is the fiduciary preparation of specific (and non-thermal) quantum states. This is often at odds with chemical environments which rapidly destroy coherence and limit the scope of quantum operations. However, if one could retain "quantum" properties in a small molecular moiety while attaching it to a more complex substrate, we could greatly increase the scope of qubits and sensors. I will describe multiple collaborations aimed at realizing quantum functional groups, small molecular fragments that retain orthogonal quantum functionality regardless of the attached substrate. In the first section I will discuss alkaline earth (I) alkoxides, which are gas-phase inorganic radicals amenable to optical cycling and state preparation. Here I will show how this small functionality can act as a quantum witness to chemical structure and dynamics. In the second section I will introduce atom like molecular sensors (ALMS) which are lanthanide-based analogs to atomic vapor cells. I will demonstrate that this material retains extraordinarily narrow linewidths in liquid phase, a property which can be leveraged for magnetic field sensing and state preparation. We hope to show how physical (in)organic chemical intuition can be combined with principled approaches to quantum technology.

Bio: Dr. Justin R. Caram is an associate professor in the department of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles. Following a PhD at the University of Chicago, and postdoctoral research as the Bob Silbey memorial postdoctoral fellow at MIT, he joined UCLA as an assistant professor in 2017. He has been recognized by several national awards including an NSF Career grant, a Sloan, Dreyfus and Cottrell fellowships, a PHYS division lectureship and the Richard Van Duyne award for early career experimentalists. His research program focuses on developing new materials and methods for studying photophysics. He is particularly fascinated by extremes in excitonic behavior, including ultranarrow linewidths, superradiance and unusually redshifted chromophores.