2 Apr 2024
Job Information
- Organisation/Company
CNRS- Department
Institut de physique de Nice- Research Field
Physics- Researcher Profile
First Stage Researcher (R1)- Country
France- Application Deadline
22 Apr 2024 - 23:59 (UTC)- Type of Contract
Temporary- Job Status
Full-time- Hours Per Week
35- Offer Starting Date
1 Oct 2024- Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?
Not funded by an EU programme- Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?
No
Offer Description
“Cold atoms group”, INPHYNI, Valbonne, France –
Wave propagation in diffusive media is an important subject for numerous fields (medical imaging, acoustics, seismology, stellar physics, …). The experiments that we pursue make use of an original medium: a laser-cooled atomic cloud. The peculiar properties of this diffusive medium (strong resonances, strong nonlinearity, quantum internal structure of the scatterers, mechanical effects of light on the atoms, quantum effects…) give rise to a very rich physics. We study several subjects in this context.
More generally, we are interested in collective effects in light-atom interaction, which include multiple scattering of light but also nonlinear optics or cooperative scattering. Finally, we have been involved in a fruitful collaboration with astrophysicists on the measurement of light correlations (Hanbury Brown and Twiss technique). Our work is mainly experimental, using four cold-atom apparatus and several smaller hot-vapor setups, but also theoretical, in particular through many collaborations.
Cold atoms coupled to photons are a promising platform for quantum information, computation and communication: atoms are adequate systems to store and/or correlate photons, while the photons themselves can be efficient carriers of information over great distances. The light radiated by a quantum emitter, such as an atom, generally features quantum correlations and squeezing, which are at the heart of many applications in quantum technologies. While antibunching is the key ingredient for single-photon sources, squeezed light is an important tool for sub-shot- noise quantum sensing.
Antibunching naturally occurs in the light emitted by a single quantum emitter and vanishes for many emitters. Still, antibunched and squeezed light can be obtained using many atoms: instead of collecting the atoms fluorescence, one uses the light transmitted through the atomic cloud. This has been demonstrated recently by the group of Arno Rauschenbeutel in Germany in a 1D system with cold atoms trapped and optically interfaced with an optical nanofiber. This new scheme, which is based on the atoms' collectively enhanced non-linear response, is both of fundamental interest and favourable for applications. However, the nanofiber experiment requires a complex setup and is difficult to implement in practical applications.
The goal on our experiment is now to try to detect antibunching and squeezed light with many quantum emitters in a 3D system. This will be implemented and studied on our cold-atom experiment, taking advantage of our experience with generating clouds of cold atoms with large optical thickness, a prerequisite for this project. The experimental technique is based on intensity correlation measurement, an experimental tool largely used on our experiment to study the light scattered by a cold atomic cloud, from single to multiple scattering regime, and from classical to quantum regime. The current collaboration with the group of Arno Rauschenbeutel will finally help to determine the experimental parameters needed to observe this antibunching effect.
This PhD thesis is experimental but can also include numerical studies in collaboration with Romain Bachelard (UFSCar, Brazil). Finally, the scholarship is provided by the CNRS, within an international collaborative project and PhD joint program with an experimental group in São Carlos (Brazil). The 3-years PhD will include 3 travels to Brazil (1 month during the first year, 2 months in the second and third year).
Requirements
- Research Field
- Physics
- Education Level
- Master Degree or equivalent
- Languages
- FRENCH
- Level
- Basic
- Research Field
- Physics
- Years of Research Experience
- None
Additional Information
- Website for additional job details
https://emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/Doctorant/UMR7010-MATFOU-003/Default.aspx
Work Location(s)
- Number of offers available
- 1
- Company/Institute
- Institut de physique de Nice
- Country
- France
- City
- NICE
- Geofield
Where to apply
- Website
https://emploi.cnrs.fr/Candidat/Offre/UMR7010-MATFOU-003/Candidater.aspx
Contact
- City
NICE
STATUS: EXPIRED