Sam Teicher

Sam Teicher interned with Microsoft, one of Quantum Foundry's industrial partners, during the Summer of 2020.

 

 

What research project did you work on as part of the internship?:  

Layered semiconductor devices are a promising path toward developing new quantum devices and qubits for quantum computing. Angle Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy (ARPES) is an experimental technique that can determine the behavior of electrons at semiconductor interfaces (band structure), which is difficult or impossible with other measurements. I spent the summer developing code that allows Microsoft Quantum to predict ARPES spectra from a realistic simulation of devices with multiple interfaces.

 

SnTe-PbTe semiconductor devices are a proposed platform for a topological quantum bit ('qubit') for quantum computing, currently under investigation in the Foundry. Similar to systems studied at Microsoft, these devices have subtle interface electronic effects that can be investigated using ARPES. Left: simulated heterostructure with alternating PbTe-SnTe layers. Upper Right: Idealized electronic structure ('band structure')  highlighting the unusual topological surface states. Lower Right: ARPES simulation

How did the internship opportunity benefit your research and career goals?:  

Learning about materials simulation in an industry context provided an important perspective on my Ph.D. ARPES simulation is directly relevant to my current research and feedback from my Microsoft co-workers and mentor greatly improved my scientific computing, coding, and presentation skills so that I can improve my work and communicate to a broader audience.