The Shannon's theory of information sent shock waves through multiple disciplines of science and engineering including computation and communication. Bits as the fundamental units of information can be carried by light to establish communication networks. In late 20th century, Bennett showed quantum bits or qubits can also be carried by light, while relying on laws of quantum physics to guarantee the security of information. A large-scale quantum communication network, however, requires as-of-yet unrealized scalable quantum devices. Such devices typically contain optical centers or atoms, to control quantum optical information. In this talk, I will describe our experimental research effort studying coherent light-atom interactions for quantum communication and sensing. I will show that by creating arrays of ions inside micro-photonic devices, we can engineer light-atom interactions to harness collective and coherent light emission and absorption. I will also briefly describe other projects including developing a multi-mode quantum light source, and nonlinear damping mechanical modes of superconducting levitated magnets.

Mahdi Hosseini is an Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University. He completed his Ph.D. and postdoctoral studies at the Australian National University (2012) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2016), respectively, where he studied quantum interactions of light with room-temperature and laser-cooled atomic gases. He joined Purdue in Aug 2016. His group at Purdue investigates rare-earth nanophotonics and room-temperature light-atom interfaces for quantum optical communication and sensing. He is a recipient of the 2022 NSF Career Award and the director of the IQPARC, a DoD-funded institute on quantum education.

This is a hybrid event, in L440 and over Zoom. Click on the "Register" button to join the Zoom call.