Team
You can apply here
You want to get to know us first? You are also welcome to contact the individual group members, or come around for a lab-tour.
We would be pleased to receive your unsolicited application.
Undergraduate Positions
| Open topics: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Coin tossing over telephone, a cryptographic protocol for quantum key distribution. This protocol builds on the ground breaking work of Manuel Blum and also on the nice works of Gabi Molina. See for example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_coin_flipping | ||
| A single photon spectrometer for building entanglement sources. Photon pair source exhibit different kind of spectral contributions which need to be characterized. Standard grating spectrometers are to lossy to detect single photons. Let's build a better one. | ||
| Hacking a single photon detector by a radio frequency side channel. Every electric device has some compromising electromagnetic emission. This can be used to ruin the security based on compromising emissions of a single photon detector. | ||
| Building the quantum telephone. We are having a quantum key distribution setup, which can be used to communicate over the phone. This needs to be programmed. | ||
| Quantum cryptography: Free-space QKD links enable secure communication in areas, where no fiber-links are present. Therefore, they are a crucial part for a larger QKD-network. We have existing telescopes and single-photon sources for an active QKD link. This thesis would aim at improving our current telescope link by adding the option of automatic realignment of the telescopes to allow for a long-term stable free-space QKD link. | ||
| Implementation of the Deutsch–Jozsa Algorithm on a Single NV-Center Qubit: Quantum computers use the principles of quantum mechanics to solve certain computational problems more efficiently than classical computers. This bachelor thesis focuses on implementing the Deutsch–Jozsa algorithm using the electron spin of a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond as a qubit. Students will learn the fundamentals of quantum computation, including quantum states, quantum gates, and coherent spin control. Using an existing experimental setup, the algorithm will be implemented through microwave pulse sequences, and the results will be analyzed using optical spin-state readout. The project provides a practical introduction to quantum information processing and experimental techniques for controlling solid-state qubits. | ||
| Creation of higher-order entangled states: For our QKD-setups we use a process called SPDC in nonlinear crystals. For this we use a Gaussian beam to pump the crystal. Different pumping beam shapes (sometimes summarized under “structured light”), such as Vortex beams, could lead to the creation of higher-order entangled states, which would be the idea in this thesis. It would encompass the creation of different beam shapes and the characterization of the resulting SPDC patterns and their correlations. | ||
| Spin Wigner Function Reconstruction of a Single NV Center in Diamond Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond are among the most promising solid-state platforms for quantum technologies due to their excellent spin coherence and optical readout capabilities. This thesis project focuses on the reconstruction of the spin Wigner function of a single NV center, providing a phase-space representation of its quantum state. The work will involve learning the fundamentals of quantum state tomography, spin manipulation using microwave control, and optical spin-state detection. Students will analyze experimental measurement data and implement numerical methods to reconstruct and visualize the spin Wigner function. The project offers hands-on experience at the intersection of quantum optics, quantum information, and data analysis, making it an excellent introduction to modern experimental quantum physics. | ||
| Quantifying Quanta: measurement, decoherence and the collapse of the wave function. In this thesis, you will explore how decoherence and interaction are fundamentally related to measuring quantities in physics. How measurements are bound and related to the Heisenberg uncertainty. What the difference between a photon click on a detector and Rabi oscillations are, how the Quantum-Zeno effect comes into play and why they are equivalent in a certain perspective. | ||
| A field-deployable Magnetometer: In this thesis you will build an optically pumped magnetometer, which is very sensitive. We are planning to measure environmental fields by putting it on a drone. | ||
| Building of a compact and reproducible Laser-locking system based on atomic vapor cells: You would build your own Laser-locking system based on atomic vapor cells. This encompasses 3D-design, electronics and optics and is a good suit for everyone who wants to combine their engineering skills with the work in an optics lab. | ||
| Making quantum random numbers with antimatter (really, not a joke project) | ||
PhD and Postdoc positions
Open topics: | |
|---|---|
Making the brightest single photon source in the world | |
| Building an optical pumped magnetometer for environmental sensing | |
| Utilizing hot atomic vapors for novel and crazy experiments | |
Implementing and hacking quantum communication | |
| Generating random numbers based on quantum mechanics |
Prof. Dr. Ilja Gerhardt
Vertretung der Professorinnen und Professoren
Prof. Dr. Ilja Gerhardt
Vertretung der Professorinnen und Professoren