Ultracold Atom News

PhD position in Quantum Matterwave Optics.

WHY JOIN OUR BEC GROUP ?

• You will work on some of the most exciting and advanced experiments on quantum mechanics and ultra-cold atoms anywhere. 
• You will be part of an international, dedicated, and closely-knit team of young scientists. 
• You will receive excellent training. You will attend dedicated training schools schools. You will be working closely with some of the leaders in the field.
• You will have the opportunity of placements in high-tech quantum companies
• Last, but not least Crete is a wonderful island, a beautiful place to live

PHYSICS BACKGROUND
Our main objects of interest are Bose-Einstein Condensates -- an ultra-cold quantum gas, where hundreds of thousands of atoms are in one and the same quantum state and behave more like a huge quantum-coherent matterwave than like individual atoms. Recent advances in our ability to generate and manipulate quantum-coherent matterwaves is now ushering in a new era of quantum optics, where the roles of matter and light are almost exactly reversed. We are starting to be able to create almost arbitrary matterwave-images, (de)magnify, and project them. Matterwave mirrors, lenses and cavities are rapidly becoming reality. We have recently even been able to demonstrate a coherent waveguide for matterwaves.

OUR WORK
The Cretan Matter Waves Group on Crete is one of the leading European Groups in Atomtronics [1] and Matterwave Optics. We have recently built the first fully coherent waveguide for matterwaves, which we published in Nature [2]. In this system, we used a novel gravito-magnetic matte wave lens to demonstrate delta-kick cooling down to a temperature of a few piko-Kelvins [3].

YOUR WORK
You will be working with two PhD students on our BEC1 machine on matterwave guides and/or matte wave optics. The BEC experiment is already operational, nevertheless, you will learn about all aspects of the system, from lasers to RF electronics, computing and fiber optics. Atom Quantum Experiments have the great advantage that we can understand most aspects ab initio, which gives you the opportunity to also learn these aspects from leading theorists, with whom we are collaborating both locally and abroad. BEC1 is the most advanced experiment on coherent matterwave guiding today. NOTE: You will benefit from us being the first to demonstrate ultra-smooth matterwave guides: there are still plenty of "low hanging fruit", i.e. 'simple' experiments that we can do for the first time. If this sound daunting, don't worry, we have a very strong track-record of training students. You will start from the simple and reach the novel and complex new physics in due course. 

YOUR BACKGROUND
We are open to students from many different backgrounds. You need to hold a master degree and have an advanced undergraduate-level understanding of quantum mechanics, but not necessarily a degree in Quantum Physics. We believe that bright people can change fields very quickly. A variety of skills can have surprising impact. If you are willing to put in the extra effort, then a change of field can contribute to a broader view and foster new ideas. 

THE MAWI PROJECT
This PhD Project will be part of the in the MAWI doctoral training network with you working on guided matterwaves.

HOW TO APPLY
Please send an email to applications@bec.gr, including 
     - motivation letter
     - list of grades both for your undergraduate and graduate studies.
     - cv
     - names of three referee familiar with your work 

REFERENCES

[1] Atomtronic circuits: From many-body physics to quantum technologies Luigi Amico, Dana Anderson, Malcolm Boshier, Jean-Philippe Brantut, Leong-Chuan Kwek, Anna Minguzzi, and Wolf von Klitzing Reviews of Modern Physics 94 4 (2022) DOI: /10.1103/RevModPhys.94.041001

[2] Hypersonic Bose--Einstein condensates in accelerator rings Saurabh Pandey et al. Nature 570 7760 205--209 (2019) DOI: /10.1038/s41586-019-1273-5

[3] Atomtronic Matter-Wave Lensing Saurabh Pandey, Hector Mas, Georgios Vasilakis, and Wolf von Klitzing Physical Review Letters 126 17 (2021) DOI: /10.1103/physrevlett.126.170402

Requirements

Research FieldPhysicsEducation LevelMaster Degree or equivalentResearch FieldPhysics » Quantum mechanicsEducation LevelMaster Degree or equivalentResearch FieldEngineering » Electronic engineeringEducation LevelMaster Degree or equivalentSkills/Qualifications

Master in Physics, Optics and/or Quantum Mechanics or Related Fields. 

We are open to outstanding persons from any Physics/Engineering field.

LanguagesENGLISHLevelGoodResearch FieldPhysics » Quantum mechanicsPhysics » OpticsPhysics » OtherYears of Research Experience1 - 4

Additional Information

Benefits

Full employment including social security and health insurance with a salary of ~3800EU gross incl. mobility allowance.

• You will work on some of the most exciting and advanced experiments on quantum mechanics and ultra-cold atoms anywhere. 
• You will be part of an international, dedicated, and closely-knit team of young scientists. 
• You will receive excellent training. You will attend dedicated training schools schools. You will be working closely with some of the leaders in the field.
• You will have the opportunity of placements in high-tech quantum companies
• Last, but not least Crete is a wonderful island, a beautiful place to live

Eligibility criteria

The successful candidate will hold a Master degree in Physics or a related domain.  Some experimental research experience would be welcome, but is not mandatory. Good knowledge of undergraduate level quantum mechanics is appreciated

Selection process

You will send us a letter of motivation, your grades and the names of three persons familiar with your academic track record.  We will contact them and then invite you for an interview. 

Website for additional job detailshttps:/www.bec.gr