If we believe point defects affect or even define the properties of a quantum device, we’d better be able to measure them.  That is the primary goal of my research group – to experimentally measure the location and chemical environments of individual point defects and relate them to the macroscale properties such as decoherence and transport.  We count individual defects in real space through a combination of electron microscopy and atom probe tomography in a technique called Atomic Scale Analytical Tomography.  Currently, our primary goal is to measure the 3-D accumulation of point defects at internal interfaces in superconducting Josephson Junctions, quantum dots, and single dopant nuclear spin qubit devices to relate the atomic structure of those devices to their coherence lifetimes. 

If we believe point defects affect or even define the properties of a quantum device, we’d better be able to measure them.  That is the primary goal of my research group – to experimentally measure the location and chemical environments of individual point defects and relate them to the macroscale properties such as decoherence and transport.  We count individual defects in real space through a combination of electron microscopy and atom probe tomography in a technique called Atomic Scale Analytical Tomography.  Currently, our primary goal is to measure the 3-D accumulation of point defects at internal interfaces in superconducting Josephson Junctions, quantum dots, and single dopant nuclear spin qubit devices to relate the atomic structure of those devices to their coherence lifetimes.