2021 - 2022 Colloquium Archive

Curtis Volin

Trapped-ions are a leading candidate for the implementation of quantum computers and other quantum applications including atomic sensors and secure communications. In trapped-ion systems, most of the control operations performed on the ions are implemented using very precise light fields. As the development of trapped-ion quantum computers transitions from research-scale demonstrations to highly engineered commercial systems, the implementation of scalable optomechanical subsystems becomes uniquely challenging. In this talk I will review the mechanisms by which ions are controlled using optical fields, with emphasis on optomechanical challenges faced in the industry.

George Gordon

Optical endoscopes are widely used in medicine to identify early-stage cancers in accessible parts of the body, such as the gastrointestinal tract, enabling early treatment and better patient outcomes. However, the next generation of endoscopes must overcome two key challenges to have a truly transformative impact. The first is size: hair-thin endoscopes would vastly expand the range of the body that can be examined in detail with minimal invasiveness, e.g. inside organs such as the pancreas via a needle, or inside tiny blood capillaries.

Lambertus Hesselink

Differential phase contrast imaging can provide direct access to electron density, and dark field (or small angle scatter) contrast enables access to surface and texture details significantly below the detector resolution. These new imaging capabilities offer the opportunity to image soft tissue for medical applications, or liquids and low density powders for aviation security applications. In contrast to sources for optical interferometers, X-ray sources are incoherent, requiring external means to create partially coherent photons.

Michael Raymer

In an initial experiment by our group, photon inter­ference between a nonlocal single-photon state and a spectrally single-mode, quasi-thermal source has been implemented, enabling reconstruction of the source spatial distribution with increased usable signal per source photon detected in coincidence with the nonlocal oscillator photon – the first instance of quantum-enhanced sensing in this context. The longer-term goal is to discover the optimal quantum-enhanced protocol to achieve ultimate SNR and telescope resolution of faint astronomical objects.

Jared Males

I will review our recent work to characterize the fundamental limits imposed by atmospheric turbulence on exoplanet detection from the ground, including the impact of the speckle correlation lifetime. The underlying theory can also be applied to space-based instruments. The results have implications for AO control, coronagraph design, post-coronagraph wave front control, and post-processing algorithm development. I will then present the status of our new extreme-AO system, MagAO-X, and discuss how our team at UArizona is using MagAO-X to push towards achieving the fundamental limits.