Events Calendar

Munushian Seminar

Speaker: Konrad Lehnert, University of Colorado and NIST

Talk Title: “Micro-electromechanics: A New Quantum Technology”

Abstract: That an object can be in two distinct places simultaneously is a consequence of quantum theory and a fact routinely invoked to account for the behavior of electrons and atoms. Nevertheless, these superpositions are in conflict with our everyday experience. What is the largest and most tangible object that can be prepared in such a superposition? This question has motivated researchers to fabricate micron-scale mechanical resonators and coax them towards the regime of quantum behavior. Indeed micro-mechanical devices recently reached the quantum regime.
In this talk, I will describe how we use electricity to achieve the exquisite control and measurement of micro-mechanical resonators necessary to reach the quantum regime. Having entered this regime, we are now able to pursue many exciting ideas. We endeavor to use mechanical resonators as long-lived memories for the quantum states of electrical circuits. In addition, we are developing the technology to transfer quantum states between two incompatible systems via a mechanical intermediary. In the future, it may even be possible to test quantum theory itself in an unexplored region of mass and size scales.


Biography: Konrad W. Lehnert is a JILA Fellow, NIST physicist, and Associate Professor of Physics at the University of Colorado. As a graduate student Konrad studied mesoscopic superconductivity, working with S. James Allen at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He received his Ph. D. in 1999 and went on to a post-doc at Yale. There, he worked with Robert Schoelkopf on quantum bits (qubits) built from superconducting circuits. In 2003 he joined JILA (JILA is a joint institute of the University of Colorado and NIST), as an Associate Fellow. In 2007 he was promoted to JILA Fellow. At JILA, he has established a research group studying microwave quantum circuits, mesoscopic electronics, and quantum nanomechanics.

Host: EE-Electrophysics

Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Marilyn Poplawski