Physics H190, Spring 2011

Topics in Optical Spintronics

February 2011
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

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:

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


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Lecture Notes, Electronic Tutorials


Assorted Physics-Related Links, Web Resources


Homework


Oral-presentation topics

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).