Broadly speaking, our work centers on understanding and harnessing the power of quantum interactions to to enable new tests of fundamental physics and new technology. Our work towards these goals is roughly divided into five distinct efforts.

The first effort is working towards a nuclear clock architecture based on thorium-229 atoms, which promises to outperform current atomic clocks in both stability and robustness. In addition to its obvious applications for time-keeping, this experiment should allow an unprecedentedly accurate test of the variability of the fundamental constants.

The second effort is towards the development of laser-free molecular qubits through electric-field gradients. By coupling resonant RF and microwave tones to a cryogenic ion trap's electrodes, a complete set of quantum gates is being developed to drive transitions between the internal molecular states of hydrogen chloride ions cotrapped with calcium ions. The architecture for these gates have also shown applications within quantum metrology whereby a single atomic ion is phase sensitive to minute electric fields over a wideband spectrum, forming a quantum signal vector analyzer.  

The third effort, in collaboration with Prof. Wes Campbell, involves neutral molecular collisions with ions. By observing the chemical reactions of a cryogenically cooled beam of molecules and trapped ions, we are able to gain insight into the interstellar medium. The focus of this project has shifted and is currently focused on producing cold beams of polyatomic molecules and probing the electronic transitions for viable transitions that would offer laser-cooling options for a new class of molecules.

The fourth effort, also in collaboration with Prof. Campbell, involves the development of ¹³³Ba⁺ as a nearly ideal quibit. This radioisotope possesses unique properties that make it an attractive candidate for quantum computing and information, such as a hyperfine clock state that is favorable for initialization and detection, as well as for coherence protection.

The final effort is part of a collaborative search for sterile neutrinos, a viable dark matter candidate, through the use of energy-momentum reconstruction. By observing the decay of a radioactive cesium MOT through atomic K-capture events, this experiment should allow us to detect the presence of keV sterile neutrinos.