Understanding and Controlling Rydberg States in Solid-State Platforms for Quantum Technologies

该奖项全部或部分根据2021年美国救援计划法案（公法117-2）资助。里德伯态是原子或分子中的电子激发轨道，其能量结构近似于在原子氢中观察到的。在原子，分子和光学物理学的许多突破的关键，在过去十年中的研究也表明，大部分的物理学控制里德伯动力学在冷原子中发现一个自然的扩展凝聚态物质，从而暗示在新的技术，同时受益于里德伯特性和固态实现。这项提议汇集了纽约城市学院（CCNY）和哈佛/麻省理工学院超冷原子中心的实验学家和理论家，以促进对由二维材料和宽带隙半导体组成的新型固态系统中的里德堡物理学的理解。这个跨学科的团队是理想的定位，以推进这一领域的科学知识，因为它结合了原子和凝聚态物理学的专家与专有技术，包括光谱学，材料科学，纳米纤维，和基本的固态建模。除了科学目标，这个PREP项目的一个关键目标是建立一个正式的伙伴关系，同时增加和丰富学生和博士后的参与，这些学生和博士后属于在物理学中代表性最低的群体。为此，该小组将利用成功的少数族裔招生渠道，接触最广泛的学生群体。这项工作围绕两个不同但密切相关的材料系统组织：第一组活动集中在所谓的“激子-极化激元”，即激子和光子在腔中强耦合产生的混合准粒子。重点是极化激元在过渡金属dichalcogenides，其里德堡态将在磁场，应变和介电工程的存在下进行研究，特别注意极化激元的形成和非线性相互作用。作为对这项工作的补充，该小组将研究金刚石中性色心中里德堡态的形成，在共振光激发下，类氢轨道-粗略地与一个围绕带负电荷的核的孔相关联-出现。该小组将在这些系统中进行实验探索和理论建模，更好地理解电子自旋极化和里德堡态创建之间的相互作用，并研究相邻色心之间的里德堡封锁效应。研究的物理平台的性质-在广泛的正在进行的努力的中心，但很少探索他们与里德堡物理学的联系-使这些活动的兴趣，特别是作为一种途径，以重建在固态的功能，使里德堡态在量子信息处理的应用程序如此有吸引力。 此外，还设想了一系列广泛的举措，旨在推进学生和博士后的职业道路，包括科学传播训练营，道德培训课程，专业发展研讨会系列和年度研究研讨会。该小组致力于灌输社区意识，这将通过参与学生之间的定期虚拟会议（由PI领导或非正式地进行）和小组之间的学生交流的形式进行密切互动来实现。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估而被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). Rydberg states are electronically excited orbitals in atoms or molecules whose energy structure approximately follow that observed in atomic hydrogen. Key to many breakthroughs in atomic, molecular and optical physics, research during the last decade has also shown that much of the physics governing Rydberg dynamics in cold atoms finds a natural extension in condensed matter, thus hinting at novel technologies that simultaneously benefit from Rydberg traits and a solid-state implementation. This proposal brings together experimentalists and theorists at the City College of New York (CCNY) and the Center for Ultracold Atoms at Harvard/MIT to advance the understanding of Rydberg physics in novel solid-state systems comprising two-dimensional materials and wide-bandgap semiconductors. This cross-disciplinary team is ideally positioned to advance the scientific knowledge of this field as it combines experts in atomic and condensed matter physics with a know-how encompassing optical spectroscopy, materials science, nanofabrication, and fundamental solid-state modeling. Adding to the scientific objectives, a key goal of this PREP project is to establish a formal partnership that simultaneously increases and enriches the participation of students and postdocs belonging to groups that are most underrepresented in physics. To this end, the group will capitalize on successful minority recruitment channels to reach the broadest student population.The work is organized around two distinct, though closely related material systems: The first set of activities zeroes in on the so-called “exciton-polaritons”, hybrid quasiparticles emerging from the strong coupling between excitons and photons in a cavity. The focus is on polaritons in transition metal dichalcogenides, whose Rydberg states will be investigated in the presence of magnetic field, strain, and dielectric engineering with special attention to polariton formation and non-linear interaction. Complementing this work, the group will investigate the formation of Rydberg states in neutral color centers in diamond, where hydrogenic orbitals — crudely associated to a hole revolving a negatively-charged core — emerge under resonant optical excitation. The group will experimentally explore and theoretically model Rydberg state dynamics in these systems, better understand the interplay between electronic spin polarization and Rydberg state creation, and investigate Rydberg blockade effects between adjacent color centers. The nature of the physical platforms investigated — at the center of broad ongoing efforts yet minimally explored in their connection with Rydberg physics — makes these activities of interest, particularly as a route to recreate in the solid state the features that make Rydberg states so attractive for applications in quantum information processing. In addition, an extensive set of initiatives is envisioned aimed at advancing the career paths of students and postdocs including a science communication bootcamp, an ethics training course, a professional development seminar series, and an annual research symposium. The group is committed to instilling a sense of community, which will be realized through a close interaction between participating students in the form of regular virtual meetings (either led by the PIs or taking place informally) and student exchange between groups.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.