P&A Colloquium: Tim Thomay, “Quantum Light: Advancing applications for Communication and Sensing”
Join the Department of Physics and Astronomy on Wednesday, February 26 at 2:30pm in White Hall G09 for a colloquium presented by Tim Thomay (SUNY-Buffalo). The title of the talk is, “Quantum Light: Advancing applications for Communication and Sensing.” A reception will precede the colloquium at 2:00pm in White Hall 111.
Abstract
Quantum light offers groundbreaking opportunities in communication, computing and sensing, forming the foundation of the emerging “Quantum Internet”. Most current applications rely on single photons and quantum entanglement to achieve a quantum advantage. While both techniques are extremely successful and have shown to allow eavesdropping safe communication and sensing beyond the Shot noise limit, one of the biggest challenges to address remain losses. This presentation will provide an introduction of quantum light highlighting its distinctions from classical light sources. Then I will discuss the generation of quantum light from solid state based sources, in particular in the context of the interaction of quantum light with coherent light. I will then talk about how to incorporate nanostructures into optical fibers and applications for fiber-based quantum devices. Finally, I will showcase our latest and most applied research, where quantum light sources are employed in plants to generate a quantum fingerprint, enabling the optimization of growth conditions.
Biography
Dr. Thomay is an experimental physicist specializing in solid state quantum light emitters, ultrafast dynamics of excitonic systems, and fiber integration of quantum detectors and sources. He is an assistant professor in the physics department at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He started to study physics in Konstanz Germany, with stops for his Bachelor’s degree at the Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas, in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil under the supervision of Dr. Elisa Baggio-Saitovitch and the University of Vienna, Austria. After obtaining his master’s degree in Konstanz he also did his PhD there where he focussed on ultrafast spectroscopy and nanofabrication of nanoscale semiconductors and photonic structures. He subsequently won a postdoctoral fellowship grant to study at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, MD, USA where he studied the quantum optical properties of III-VI Quantum Dots and their applications in Quantum Communication. After being a research scientist in the Electrical Engineering Department at the State University of New York at Buffalo, he became an Assistant Professor in the Physics Department.