Assistant Professor (Adjunkt) - "Superradiant Optical Atomic Clock"

Assistant Professor (Adjunkt) - "Superradiant Optical Atomic Clock"

NCU - Nicolaus Copernicus University

Toruń, Poland

Description (field, expectations, comments):

The competition is open to persons who meet the conditions set out in Article 113 of the Act of 20 July 2018 - Law on higher education and science (Journal of Laws of 2018, item 1668) and the following qualification criteria:

• Required: Ph.D. in physics, chemistry or a closely related field;
• Required: publication record in atomic/molecular physics, spectroscopic techniques or similar;
• Preferred: experience in experimental techniques related to: laser stabilization, ultra-high vacuum, electronics, optical systems, fiber-optic systems, laser cooling of atoms or ions, optical traps, laser spectroscopy;
• Required: good command of English (spoken and written);
• Preferred: experience in atomic/molecular quantum theory and calculations;
• Preferred: programming skills and experience in numerical methods;
• Ability to work in a team and strong motivation for scientific work.

The main goal of the project "Superradiant Optical Atomic Clock" is to create a new experimental platform for an active superradiant optical atomic clock with cold strontium atoms to study cavity quantum electrodynamics (cavity QED) and fundamental physics. The long-term goal is to construct the world’s first continuous-operation active optical atomic clock based on superradiance. This is a new approach to the optical atomic clock, not yet realized experimentally, which involves the direct use of light emitted from atoms on the clock transition. To increase the speed of photon emission from an extremely long-lived atomic level, the phenomenon of superradiance will be utilized. To create the conditions for superradiance, atoms will be cooled to temperatures of a few microkelvins and placed in an optical lattice inside a high-finesse optical cavity. The construction of such a superradiant atomic clock would overcome the current limitations of "classical" optical clocks and increase clock sensitivity by orders of magnitude. This would have direct applications in fundamental physics research and quantum metrology.

Key responsibilities include:

• construction of an experimental setup for studying superradiance in an optical cavity with ultra-cold strontium atoms (UHV vacuum systems, optical cavities, manipulation of cold atoms, laser systems, etc.);
• scientific research using active and passive optical atomic clocks;
• writing scientific publications;
• supporting students and PhD candidates involved in the project.

Skills/Qualifications:

• a PhD degree in physical sciences or a closely related discipline, or a statement of planned PhD completion (a PhD degree is required before starting the job);
• a publication record in the field of atomic/molecular physics, spectroscopic techniques, or similar;
• experience in experimental techniques and/or experience in atomic/molecular quantum theory and computation;
• good command of English, both spoken and written;
• ability to work in a team;
• problem-solving skills, as well as written and oral communication and presentation skills.

Preferred:

• experience in atomic/molecular quantum theory and calculations;
• experience in experimental techniques related to: laser stabilization, ultra-high vacuum, electronics, optical systems, fiber-optic systems, laser cooling of atoms or ions, optical traps, laser spectroscopy;
• programming skills and experience in numerical methods.

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