Optomechanics seminar, 26 June 2015

15 June 2015

Dr. Alessandro Pitanti, researcher from Istituto Nanoscienze (Pisa, Italy), will hold a seminar on Opto and Electromechanics using Silicon Nitride.

The seminar will take place at PoliFab on 26 June 2015 at 14:30.

Opto- and Electromechanics with silicon nitride: quantum state transfer and novel applications

Owing to its good mechanical properties, silicon nitride is the material of choice for micro- and nano-mechanics applications. Additionally, its large refractive index and low loss tangent makes it suitable for optomechanical and electromechanical applications, where the radiation pressure of electromagnetic fields is able to probe and control the mechanical motion. In this talk I will explore many different uses of this material in micromechanical devices. In particular, being able to support high quality optical and superconducting resonators, Si3N4 becomes the best candidate for mechanically assisted state transfer between near infrared and microwave photons. In this scheme, qubits information stored into microwave photons can be coherently transferred to near infrared photons which are impervious to thermal decoherence and can travel long distances with minimum dephasing. This will allow for the establishment of quantum networks based on hybrid quantum systems. Finally, I will present some of the new optomechanical activities starting in Pisa, where silicon nitride is used to create trampoline membranes, strain engineering of graphene and as a bridge for suspended superconducting junctions.