Physics H190, Spring 2011

Topics in Optical Spintronics

When and where: Wednesdays 4-6 pm, 2 EVANS

Format: One 2-hr lecture/seminar session per week (student participation strongly encouraged), bi-weekly homework assignments

Instructor: Professor Dmitry Budker

Office: 273 Birge, Labs: 203/207, 217, 219, 221, 230, 241, 245, 249 Birge
e-mail: budker AT Berkeley.edu
research group web page: http://budker.berkeley.edu/

Professor's Office hour: by appointment (send e-mail to setup), 273 Birge

Synopsis and goals of the course:
The course will explore modern ways of manipulating and probing spins with light. The main spin system that we will explore is the Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) color center in diamond, which has been a focus of much recent attention because of a combination of its unique properties, opening possibilities of exciting applications. One such application is measuring magnetic fields with an unprecedented combination of sensitivity and spatial resolution. At the extreme, measuring the state of a single nuclear spin by sensing its magnetic field has already been achieved! In this course, the students will learn the basics of laser spectroscopy of solids, the principles of optical magnetometry (not only with diamond, but also with "warm" atoms and ultracold gases), and many general aspects of the physics of spins (spintronics). As a culmination of the course, we will discuss how optical magnetometers are used in a new kind of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy that does not require any magnets.

Required text: none

Recommended texts:

Optical Properties of Solids by M. Fox
Atomic Physics by D. Budker, D. F. Kimball and D. Demille
Optically Polarized Atoms by M. Auzinsh, D. Budker, and S. M. Rochester
Single-photon Devices and Applications by C. Santori, D. Fattal, and Y. Yamamoto
Molecular Quantum Mechanics by P. Atkins and R. Friedman (Chapter 5: Group Theory)

Grading policy: the grade will be based on the homework, participation, and oral presentation in class

Invaluable resource: questions on organizational aspects of the course may be directed to Ms. Claudia Trujillo of Physics Student Services

Newsflash!

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Lecture Notes, Electronic Tutorials

Physics H190 Spring 2011 Selected Lecture Notes are now on bspace

Assorted Physics-Related Links, Web Resources

Homework

Homework set #1, due Feb. 02
Homework set #2, due Feb. 16
Homework set #3, due March 02

Oral-presentation topics

Single-photon sources based on NV-diamond by Pauli Kehayias
Raman-excited spin coherences in NV centers in diamond by Maria Simanovskaia
Application of Fluorescent Nanodiamonds to Biological Imaging by Joseph Magliocco
Diamonds in particle detectors by Thibaut Mueller
Color centers in SiC by Daniel Maser
Strain studies in diamond NV centers by Lucas Zipp
Quantum information and the NV centers in diamond by Zlatko Minev and Nate Earnest
Cavity quantum electrodyanmics with solid state spin ensembles and superconducting resonators by Steve Weber
Spin readout with superconducting circuits by Natania Antler
Quantum Hall Effect by Hsinzon Tsai and Raymond Co
NMR with singlet states
Spintronics and graphene
Quasicrystals with five-fold symmetry
Raman spectra of pure diamond (first- and second-order)
Suggest your own

Acknowledgment and Disclaimer: This material is based in part upon work supported by the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recomendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation (NSF).