Cindy Regal
Drum-like membrane resonators are intriguing for precision sensing because their resonance frequencies can be sensitive to a variety of parameters of interest, from mass to thermal radiation. The quest for improved sensitivity in tensioned membranes faces a tradeoff in which a high amplitude of mechanical motion improves signal-to-noise, but too high of a drive (beyond the so-called critical amplitude) introduces nonlinear effects.
In our work published in NanoLetters, we develop an experimentally straightforward method to evade this tradeoff. Using a patterned, trampoline-shaped membrane, we find that dual-mechanical-mode operation can bring these sensors to a thermally-limited frequency stability.听 By measuring and correcting for frequency noise arising at high amplitude, we maintain this high stability when operating beyond the linear regime, opening new opportunities for membrane frequency sensing.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a $625 million investment to advance the next phase of the National Quantum Information Science Research Centers, a cornerstone of the National Quantum Initiative. This funding will support five centers dedicated to accelerating quantum technologies that promise transformative impacts on science, industry, and national security. JILA is proud to remain a key partner in QSA through the Q-SEnSE Center, which focuses on quantum sensing and precision measurement.
Physicists descended on the island of Helgoland this June to celebrate 100 years of quantum mechanics. Our group enjoyed contributing to this the convergence of quantum applications and foundations.
Our work on high optical access cryogenic system for Rydberg atoms has been published in PRX Quantum - see this viewpoint on our studies.
Professor Cindy Regal, Baur-SPIE Chair at JILA, has been named a 2025 Brown Investigator by the Brown Institute for Basic Sciences at Caltech.
In a new study published in Physical Review Letters, JILA Fellow and University of Colorado Boulder physics professor Cindy Regal, along with former JILA Associate Fellow Jose D鈥橧ncao (currently an assistant professor of physics at the University of Massachusetts, Boston) and their teams developed new experimental and theoretical techniques for studying the rates at which light-assisted collisions occur in the presence of small atomic energy splittings. Their results rely upon optical tweezers鈥攆ocused lasers capable of trapping individual atoms鈥攖hat the team used to isolate and study the products of individual pairs of atoms.
Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have developed a novel method to measure magnetic field orientations using atoms as minuscule compasses. The research, a collaboration between JILA Fellow and 蜜桃传媒破解版下载 physics professor Cindy Regal and Svenja Knappe, a research professor in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering, was recently published as the cover article in the journal Optica.
On June 20, 2024, the U.S. National Science Foundation awarded JILA and the University of Colorado Boulder a $20 million grant to create the听National Quantum Nanofab (NQN), a cutting-edge facility poised to revolutionize quantum technology.
JILA Fellow and University of Colorado Boulder physics professor Cindy Regal remarked, "The NQN will be a unique facility for quantum discoveries and technology. I look forward to seeing the NQN as a national resource in quantum and interfacing with a wide range of JILA research.鈥
New research from JILA Fellow and University of Colorado Boulder physics professor Cindy Regal and her team, Dr. Ravid Shaniv and graduate student Chris Reetz has found that in specific scenarios, such as advanced studies looking at the interactions between light and mechanical objects, where the temperature might differ in various resonator parts, which lead to unexpected behaviors. Their observations, published in Physical Review Research, can potentially revolutionize the design of micro-mechanical resonators for quantum technology and precision sensing.
Mechanical resonators featuring large tensile stress have enabled a range of experiments in quantum optomechanics and precision sensing. Many sensing applications require functionalizing tensioned resonators by appending additional mass to them. However, this may dramatically change the resonator mode quality factor, and hence its sensitivity.
In our work published in Physical Review Applied, we study how mode quality factor depends on suspending a mass on a type of membrane resonator known as a trampoline.听 Surprisingly, the quality factor becomes independent of the mass in the large-load听regime, for any tensioned resonator, which explains previous related results and will enable new design perspectives.