PHYS/ASTR Colloquium: "The Science of Gemstones for Quantum Sensing" - Dr. Nicholas Curro (Professor, U.C. Davis)

Speaker: Nicholas Curro (Professor, U.C. Davis)

Host: Huizhong Xu

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The Science of Gemstones for Quantum Sensing

Quantum technologies hold tremendous potential for advancing scientific discovery, through improved computational algorithms, communications, and sensing.  These technologies rely on the quantum mechanical concepts of superposition and entanglement, which challenge our intuitions based on classical experiences.  In this talk I will focus on spins as qubits, the fundamental building blocks of quantum computing or quantum sensing.  Color centers in insulators such as diamond offer a particularly attractive type of spin qubit, as do many nuclear isotopes in matter.  I will discuss how color centers can be controlled, manipulated and entangled, and thus be used for sensing  with unparalleled precision a vast range of parameters such as magnetic and electric fields, temperature, pressure, and stress.

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