What direction is my atom pointing? (COPSS SmallTALK) - Jake Davidson

The exciting applications of quantum networking, entanglement distribution, and even classical horology promise important advances in telecommunications technology in the near future. These advances will be built upon a deep understanding of the matter systems used to build devices and carry out protocols. In this talk I will describe my recent efforts to completely characterize the magnetic effects on thulium ions in a Y3Ga5O12 (Tm:YGG) lattice. Along the way to these experimental results, I will highlight a number of experiments which have led to technological breakthroughs. Among them, I will cover how to prepare and improve atomic frequency comb quantum memories, designing atomic clocks and ion traps, and ways that we can utilize materials to improve the devices we can create. Delving into the details of the experiment itself, I will discuss our methods for measuring the hyperfine tensors of the ground (3H6) and excited (3H4) states of thulium ions in this material using a combination of spectral hole burning and optically detected nuclear magnetic resonance (ODNMR). From these techniques we measure and fit the orientation dependence of the Tm3+ ion's spin-Hamiltonian by rotating a crystal sample through a series of angles with respect to an external magnetic field. Finally with the measured spin-Hamiltonian in hand, I will highlight important crystal orientations and their impact on the applications above.