UNM Physics and Astronomy awarded $800,000 grant for quantum eraser research project
June 17, 2023
UNM Department of Physics & Astronomy Associate Professor Francisco Elohim Becerra was recently awarded an $800,000 research grant for a research project titled, "Nonclassical atomic spin ensembles based on coherent feedback and quantum eraser." This is a Department of Defense Research and Education Program for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions (HBCU/MI) Grant.
“This grant allows us to study fundamental questions about the interaction of light and matter, and further our understanding of the capabilities of atomic systems for building metrological technologies with performances that go beyond conventional sensors,” said Becerra. “For UNM, this grant will enhance capacity in quantum information sciences, a field that is expected to have a large technological impact in the near future. It will support experimental research in quantum information that will complement well-established theoretical work in quantum information at UNM.”
Quantum optics is the field that studies the interaction of light and matter at the quantum level. The Quantum Optics group studies how to use the unintuitive, weird quantum properties of light and matter to find optimal ways to realize measurements, sensing, and communications using photons and atoms. "We are interested in understanding the limits in measurement sensitivity and information transfer that are imposed by nature, and how to demonstrate sensors and detectors that can allow for approaching these limits," said Becerra. The Quantum Optics team at UNM will utilize quantum eraser protocols to generate collective atomic states with strong quantum correlations of cold cesium atoms, such as spin-squeezed states. These states can be used for building atomic quantum sensors whose sensitivities go far beyond the limits of current sensing techniques.
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