Oskar J. Painter, Ph.D. - US grants

0421543
Scherer
This proposed instrumentation acquisition is that of a dual-beam focused ion beam scanning electron microscope (FIB/SEM) system, with which the involved research team intends to investigate electromagnetic phenomena at the nanometer scale. The involved research 'team' includes three collaborative elements. CalTech will take the lead, JPL will provide supplemental input, and the FIB/SEM vendor (i.e., FEI Inc.) will not only furnish the basic hardware but will interactively assist CalTech students and faculty in their efforts with software optimization.

Intellectual merit: We propose a broad-based program of experimental research to advance our understanding of the degree to which van der Waals interactions may ultimately limit the performance of photonic-atom chips. At the same time, we will improve our ability to fabricate devices with a high degree of integration between the photonic and atom-trapping "layers." Photonic-atom chips are a leading candidate for a technology platform to enable scalable and robust quantum communication networks, and efforts to develop them have drawn together cutting-edge methodology from the fields of nanofabrication, atomic physics and photonic engineering. In the long run, the line of research we are initiating should lead to an improved understanding of how perturbative and strongly-coupled quantum electrodynamics come together in research involving gas-phase atoms and dielectric microresonators. This type of research will be crucial for realizing the great promise of nanotechnology approaches to quantum information processing.


Broader impact: The fabrication techniques we will develop and the results of our surface-effects studies will have relevance for research beyond the field of quantum information science. For example, they will be highly valuable for applied work on the development of chip-scale sensors (atomic clocks and atom-interferometric inertial sensors) and basic research on developing atom-chip systems to study quantum degenerate gases confined to one or two dimensions. The proposed research will contribute significantly to the interdisciplinary training of graduate students, who will engage both in highly focused technical work on improved fabrication methods and in more conceptual research on atom cooling and trapping and quantum electrodynamics.

The Institute for Quantum Information and Matter (IQIM) is a center-level activity that spans Quantum Information Science (QIS), Condensed Matter Physics (CMP), Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics (AMOP), and the emerging field of Mechanical Quantum Systems (MQS). The unifying theme for the IQIM is the exploration of collective quantum phenomena that endow physical systems of many interacting constituents with astonishing properties that in effect transform the weirdness of the microscopic quantum realm to macroscopic scales. The principal motivations for the creation of the IQIM are the extraordinary set of scientific opportunities associated with the study of exotic quantum states of matter and the potential for discovery brought by newly developed tools from Quantum Information Science. The IQIM ties together the diverse Caltech community of researchers, from physics to applied physics, to computer science, who focus on emergent quantum phenomena and provides a sustaining base for the scientific development of a new field of research that will actively involve national and international communities of researchers in QIS, CMP, AMOP, and MQS. By way of extensive programs in education and outreach, the IQIM will impact high school and college education and will engage the general public with the "mind boggling" nature of the quantum realm.

It has long been known that individual atoms and electrons, as well as electromagnetic and mechanical oscillators (i.e., photons and phonons), obey laws of quantum physics that in many respects defy common sense. Under the right conditions, interactions among many such quantum objects can lead to remarkable quantum phenomena that have heretofore not existed in nature. Advances to create, characterize, and utilize such exotic quantum phenomena have been made in condensed matter physics (CMP), atomic-molecular-optical physics (AMOP), and at the interface between these areas. In conjunction with parallel developments in quantum information science (QIS), a revolution is underway in the study of exotic quantum systems that is the unifying theme and driving motivation for the IQIM. Progress in the experimental realization and theoretical understanding in this area will surely have profound implications for basic physics. The IQIM will merge insights and analytic tools from QIS with advancing laboratory capabilities in CMP, AMOP, and MQS for the discovery and characterization of exotic quantum states of matter, and will thereby shed light on issues at the core of physics. Eventually, the ability to manipulate exotic quantum systems may lead to new technological capabilities, including methods for designing and exploiting quantum materials.

The Institute for Quantum Information and Matter will have the following scientific thrusts:

Quantum Information: Investigators at the current NSF-sponsored Institute for Quantum Information (IQI) have made Caltech a recognized world leader in theoretical QIS. IQI faculty are integral members of the IQIM and conduct research that is closely allied to the IQIM, e.g., the application of topological principles to quantum phase transitions and the discovery of universal features of entanglement that that distinguish quantum phases of matter. Research at the IQIM includes investigations of the connections between quantum information science and other aspects of basic physics. IQI scientists will lead the quest to apply insights into the properties of quantum entanglement for the study of quantum many-body systems and quantum phase transitions, as well as to apply quantum information theory to illuminate how information is encoded in spacetimes subject to strong quantum fluctuations. The IQI will also continue its world leading programs on quantum computation and communication.

Quantum Many-Body Physics: Caltech has world leading programs in the quantum physics of strongly interacting many-body systems (e.g., superconductors, exotic magnets, strongly correlated electron systems, etc.). Research thrusts in this area will emphasize emergent quantum phenomena, including quantum Hall physics, topological states of matter, exotic magnetic systems, and ultra-cold atomic gases, and with strong connections to powerful theoretical techniques from QIS. These studies will involve some of the most fascinating and puzzling manifestations of many-body quantum mechanics.

Quantum Optics: Another area of great strength at Caltech is the study of optical interactions at the level of one atom and photon, where seminal advances in the realization of new paradigms for light-matter interactions by way of micro- and nano-scopic optical cavities have been made. Within IQIM, existing capabilities for quantum control of strong interactions of single atoms and photons will be extended to explore quantum many-body systems composed of 1- and 2-D arrays of atoms whose interactions are mediated by photons in microscopic quantum optical circuits.

Quantum Mechanics of Mechanical Systems: Faculty in the IQIM in will build upon recent advances in opto- and electro-mechanics 1) to achieve quantum control of single phonons in simple material systems, thereby enabling lithographic fabrication of quantum many-body systems with phonon mediated interactions, and 2) to create human-sized objects in entangled quantum states within the setting of LIGO.

The IQIM has many facets beyond fundamental research to explore exotic quantum states of matter and the interface with QIS. With the end of scalability of conventional silicon-based information technology on the horizon, it is vitally important to explore aggressively new paradigms for information technology. By attracting and training top students and postdoctoral scholars in QIS, CMP, AMOP, and MQS, the IQIM will significantly strengthen the US presence in these areas and will broaden the nation's technical base. A particularly important aspect of the IQIM?s broader impact is a vibrant visitor program, which fuels intellectual excitement, facilitates collaborations and exchanges of scientific ideas, and performs a highly valued service for national and international communities at the interfaces of QIS, CMP, AMOP, and MQS.

The IQIM will also undertake extensive programs for outreach and the development of human resources. The goal is to use the public's fascination with the mysteries of the quantum realm to engage a broad community in basic science and education. Activities include the following:
The Caltech Precollege Science Initiative (CAPSI )- In collaboration with CAPSI, IQIM will develop high school curricula for one to two week instructional modules related to the scientific activities of the Institute,
Summer internships for high school teachers and students from multiethnic LA regional high schools,
Caltech MURF program for undergraduate research experience of minority students in IQIM laboratories,
Disseminating science via a science and entertainment partnership in collaboration with The Science and Entertainment Exchange (SEE),
Development of university curricula related to IQIM fields of research,
Public presentations via the Caltech Watson Lectures and YouTube videos.

These activities will be accessible via an interactive IQIM website.

Funding is provided by the Division of Physics in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences and the Division of Computing and Communication Foundations in the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering.

This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) grant will enable the acquisition of a three-ion-beam microscope, the ORION NanoFab system, from Carl Zeiss Microscopy. This tri-beam system can provide unprecedented resolution, precision and versatility for the fabrication and characterization of materials and devices all the way down to the nanometer scale (roughly a few times the atomic spacing). The ORION NanoFab system is expected to make a significant impact on interdisciplinary nanoscience research, particularly in the areas of quantum matter and technology, medical and bio-engineering, photonic and optoelectronic research, meta-materials, and renewable energy science. The tri-beam system will be located at the Kavli Nanoscience Institute (KNI) of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), which provides laboratories with state-of-the-art infrastructure and houses centralized nanofabrication and nano-characterization facilities for researchers at Caltech, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and corporations and other institutes in the greater area of Southern California. As this form of tri-beam microscopy is only in its infancy, Caltech will also be partnering with Zeiss in a technical outreach effort to bring experts together to advance new ideas and applications of the tri-beam tool. This collaborative outreach plan includes: hosting annual workshops at Caltech with industrial and global research-community users of the ORION NanoFab to exchange information on research highlights, technical challenges, and new technical developments and applications. As part of outreach effort there is also a plan to offer nanoscience "demo days" for K-12 students in which the advanced instrumentation of the ORION NanoFab and other tools in the KNI can be used to explore the nanoscopic world, as well as lectures and lab tours at Caltech to local high school students and teachers on topics of nano-science and technology (nano-S&T) and applications of modern microscopy.

This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) grant will enable the acquisition of a three-ion-beam microscope, the ORION NanoFab system, from Carl Zeiss Microscopy. The ORION NanoFab is a three-ion-beam nano fabrication and microscopy system capable of an imaging resolution of 0.5 nm and a cutting resolution of ≲2nm, virtually independent of material. The system is designed to seamlessly switch between gallium, neon and helium beams, so that one has the option of employing the gallium focused ion beam (FIB) to pattern materials at the micro-scale, taking advantage of the powerful yet gentle neon beam for precision nano-machining with speed, or using the helium beam to fabricate delicate sub-10 nm structures that demand extremely high machining fidelity and/or cutting of delicate materials (such as graphene) that are prone to damage by high-energy electrons or heavy-element ion beams. Its capability of maskless nano-patterning also minimizes possible contamination due to the multiple steps required in processing and removing masks. The ORION NanoFab system is expected to make a significant impact on interdisciplinary nanoscience research, particularly in the areas of quantum matter and technology, medical and bio-engineering, photonic and optoelectronic research, meta-materials, and renewable energy science. The tri-beam system will be located at the Kavli Nanoscience Institute (KNI) of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), which provides laboratories with state-of-the-art infrastructure and houses centralized nanofabrication and nano-characterization facilities for researchers at Caltech, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and corporations and other institutes in the greater area of Southern California. In partnership with Zeiss we also plan to bring together the industrial and global research-communities in a series of annual workshops at Caltech designed to help advance the technology and applications of multi-beam microscopy and nanofabrication.