Team

Atomic processors

Scientific activity

Due to their particular electronic structure, rare earth ions in crystalline matrices possess unique spectroscopic properties at low temperatures. Combining an inhomogeneous width of several tens of GHz and a spectral resolution generally well below 1MHz, and capable of memorizing a spectral profile on the microsecond scale for times that can extend to several days, these materials can be used as programmable optical processors for a wide variety of applications.

The “Atomic Processors” team designs and develops original architectures based on rare-earth-doped crystals, which enable us to meet a wide range of signal processing challenges, from classical to quantum. Applications include electromagnetic monitoring, imaging or communication in complex environments, or the development of a quantum sensor for vibration measurement. All this work is underpinned by an ongoing effort to characterize and understand the decoherence mechanisms encountered in these systems, which can impact on the performance of the various architectures envisaged.

© Anne Louchet-Chauvet, 2015.

Figure: Tm:YAG crystal cooled to 1.5K, ready for high-resolution spectroscopy experiments under magnetic field.