************************************ * QUANTUM OPTICS AND ATOM OPTICS * * IN AUSTRALASIA * * * * * * * * MONTHLY NEWSLETTER * * VOL VI, NO 5 * * * * May 1998 * * * * ISSN 1325-6467 * * * Edited by: Bill Munro * \ | / * Physics, University of Queensland, * \__|__/ * QLD 4072, Australia. * | * email: munro@physics.uq.edu.au Available on WWW at: * | * phone: +61 7 3365 2422 http://www.anu.edu.au * | * fax: +61 7 3365 1242 /Physics/newsletter * * ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENTS 0. PROBLEMS 1. ABSTRACTS 2. CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENTS 3. WANTED TO BUY/SELL 4. SITUATIONS VACANT 5. MISC NEWS ______________________________________________________________________________ ******************************************************************************* 0. EDITORIAL NOTE Welcome to the fifth newsletter of the year. Sorry very little is new news this month. Please keep the abstracts coming in ******************************************************************************* 1. ABSTRACTS ******************************************************************************* 2. CONFERENCES / WORKSHOPS Workshop Announcement Workshop on Quantum Information, Decoherence and Chaos Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef 21st - 25 th September 1998 Recent technological advances in a number of fields including laser physics and mesoscopic electronics now enable quantum states of single systems to be engineered and controlled with almost perfect precision. This has promoted a new interest in quantum information and entanglement with possible applications to quantum computing, communication and new high precision measurement schemes. The purpose of the workshop is to bring together leading researchers from different fields to explore the theoretical and technological implications of quantum information. Workshop Topics Quantum Information Quantum Cryptography Quantum Error Correction Quantum and Atom Optics Mesoscopic Electronics Quantum Measurement Quantum Computation Quantum Chaos Entanglement Decoherence For further information, see http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/heron/heron.html Please note that numbers of participants are limited to 35 people only. _______________________________________________________________________________ =================================================== % % % A C O L S 98 % % % % Australasian Conference on Optics, % % Lasers and Spectroscopy % % % % 14th - 17th December, 1998 % % % % University of Canterbury, % % Christchurch, New Zealand % % % % Web: http://www.physics.otago.ac.nz/~acols98/ % % Email: acols98@physics.otago.ac.nz % % % =================================================== The ACOLS conference series resumes this year after the suspension for IQEC in Sydney in 1996. It will be held for the first time in New Zealand, in the modern facilities of the University of Canterbury in Christchurch. Please visit the web site for up-to-date information about the conference. The First Announcement, which includes dates and programme information, will be mailed in the next few days. The same information is available at the web site, along with a form to add your address and other details to our mailing list. We look forward to welcoming scientists from new Zealand, Australia and further afield to Christchurch in December. ****************************************************************************** 4. SITUATIONS VACANT Wanted: Research Associate: To work on Low Noise Semiconductor Laser Development in Australia. We are seeking a research associate with an optoelectronics or quantum electronics background to carry out a comprehensive study of the state of the art of sub-shot noise laser design and operation in Canberra. This work forms part of a three year project funded by the Australian Research Council targeted towards the design, fabrication, testing and development of high performance sub-shot noise laser diodes for use in next generation optical computing and instrumentation systems. Participating institutions include Centre for Advanced Telecommunications and Quantum Electronics Research at the University of Canberra (Investigator: Prof. Paul Edwards) Department of Electronic Materials Engineering in the Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering at the Australian National University (Investigator: Dr. C. Jagadish) Edward L.Ginzton Laboratories at Stanford University (Investigator: Prof. Yoshi Yamamoto) Please email enquiries and CVs to: Paul J Edwards Professor of Electronic Engineering and Applied Physics Director, Centre for Advanced Telecommunications and Quantum Electronics Research Faculty of Information Sciences and Engineering University of Canberra, ACT 2601 Australia +61 (0)26 201 2515/2516/2411 (V) +61 (0)26 201 5041 (F) paule@ise.canberra.edu.au _____________________________________________________________________________ POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH POSITIONS in laser cooling and focussing of atomic beams.. I have funding for a postdoc to work on laser cooling and focussing of atomic beams. The position is available in the first instance for two>years. Salary will be in the range A$43,042 - A$46,203 p.a. My research group has now reached a critical stage, with a large number of excellent graduate students, an operating Rb beam line, various tunable diode lasers and a new Coherent 899-21 tunable Ti:dye laser system. Further information can be found at: http://optics.ph.unimelb.edu.au/atomopt/jobad2.html and by contacting me directly at . Robert Scholten School of Physics Tel: +61 3 9344 5457 University of Melbourne Fax: +61 3 9347 4783 Parkville Vic 3052 AUSTRALIA r.scholten@physics.unimelb.edu.au ________________________________________________________________________________ POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH POSITIONS, POSTGRADUATE STUDENTSHIPS. Queen's University, Belfast,UK (Academic) EC TRAINING AND MOBILITY OF RESEARCHERS NETWORK IN PHYSICS. CO-ORDINATED BY THE QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY OF BELFAST,UK Applications are invited for 6 postdoctoral positions and 2 PhD studentships, under an EC TMR Network (ERB MRX_CT98-0198) entitled "Electromagnetic Interactions in Tunneling". The postdoctoral positions are available at:- (1) The Queens University of Belfast(UK; (2) Katholieke Universiteit, Nijmegen(NL); (3) Rheinisch - Westfalische Technische Hochschule, Aachen(D); (4) IBM Research Division, Zurich (CH); (5) Universite de la Mediteranee (CNRS UMR6631), Marseille (FR) (6) Chalmers University of Technology of Goteborg (SW) The PhD studentships will be held at:- (7) Trinity College, Dublin (IRE). The network will address a range of investigations involving the emission and absorption of electromagnetic radiation in electron scanning tunneling microscopy. The posts are primarily experimental in nature, except at (6) where relevant theory will be developed. All positions are of 3 years' duration, except that at (2) of 30 months duration Salaries (and postgraduate bursaries) will be in accordance with the scales applicable in the countries of the host laboratories. Applicants for the postdoctoral (postgraduate) positions must possess or be about to obtain a PhD (a high classification undergraduate degree)in Physics or other relevant discipline; experience in scanning probe microscopy or surface science is highly desirable. Candidates must be nationals of a Member or Associated State of the Community and cannot take up positions in their own state or in the states in which they have carried out their normal activities for 18 or more of the 24 months prior to appointment. Candidates may apply direct to their preferred laboratory, contact details on the web site: http://physicsweb.org/ Further details are available from the Co-ordinator or any of the contacts listed on the websites. Applicants should submit a brief CV and a letter of application, clearly stating their nationality and work/study locations over the last 2 years. Subsequent to shortlisting, a central recruitment fair for all positions will be held at Queen's University in May 1998; all positions are immediately available on appointment. ___________________________________________________________________________ Post Doc Position Available Immediately Atom Trapping Group, Dept. of Physics, University of Auckland, New Zealand One year of funding certain, and an additional year likely. Presently have a Cs magneto-optic trap with ongoing experiments on quantum chaos and decoherence. A Rb trap is also under construction. E-mail Nelson Christensen for additional details. n.christensen@auckland.ac.nz ___________________________________________________________________________ RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE DEGREE OF PHD LASER COOLED TRAPPED IONS National Physical Laboratory/ Imperial College / University of Strathclyde, Imperial College,London or University of Strathclyde, Glasgow (Academic) The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has an internationally recognised research programme on laser cooling of single trapped ions and their use as future optical frequency standards. Recent notable successes have been the first observation of a highly forbidden octupole transition in a single cold ytterbium ion and the observation of sub-kHz cold ion lineshapes in a single strontium ion. Currently there are opportunities to sponsor two doctoral students to carry out research at NPL whilst registered at Imperial College or the University of Strathclyde. Future research will be targeted in the following areas: CW solid state laser frequency doubling and stabilisation are core techniques for cooling single ions. High resolution spectroscopy of a single cooled ion (171Yb+) involves probing a forbidden optical 147clock148 transition. Quantum jump detection schemes are used to detect the clock transition driven by narrow linewidth lasers. Single trapped ions are also very useful systems with which to research quantum optics phenomena. Techniques such as sideband cooling are able to prepare the ion in the quantum ground state of the trap. Furthermore, a single trapped ion inside a high finesse optical cavity provides the opportunity to observe single ion - optical cavity interactions. Such systems are likely to find application in topical fields such as quantum information processing. These NPL-sponsored studentships offer a student stipend which is at a similar level to that of an EPSRC CASE studentship and also cover payment of tuition fees to the university. For further details please contact the university supervisors in the first instance. Contact Name: Dr D Segal, Blackett Laboratory d.segal@ic.ac.uk Telephone:0171 594 7779 Dr E Riis, University of Strathclyde e.riis@strath.ac.uk Telephone: 0141 548 3490 ___________________________________________________________________________ ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN LASER SPECTROSCOPY UMEA University -Department of Physics, Sweden (Commercial) Applications are invited for a position as Assistant Professor in Laser Spectroscopy at the Department of Physics, Umea University, Sweden The successful candidate should have a background in spectroscopy or experimental atomic, molecular or laser physics (or equivalent) and join the Laser Physics Group at the department. The Laser Physics Group is currently pursuing research within two fields; 147Development of laser-based spectroscopic techniques for sensitive trace species detection148 and 147Development of laser-based techniques for non-intrusive manipulation of micrometer-sized objects (optical tweezers), primarily of biological origin,148 but plans also for an activity within the field of 147cooling and trapping of atoms.148 The department has recently decided to strengthen its activity by the appointment of a full-time professor in experimental quantum optics (presently being appointed). In addition to pursuing research, the successful candidate is expected to assist in supervising graduate students and preferably also in attracting support. Information about the activity of the department can be found at our www site In order to qualify for the position you should have a doctoral degree (or equivalent) which preferably is not more than 5 years old. The position is for two years, normally with a two years prolongation. Applications should include a cv, a list of publications, a brief statement of your previous research activities and teaching merits, a short research plan (< and a list of referees, and be sent to the Registrar. Closing date for applications is 15 June 1998. Ove Axner- Head of the Department of Experimental Physics and the Laser Physics Group +46 90 786 6754 ****************************************************************************** 5. MISC NEWS ****************************************************************************** That all folks!! The end! _______________________________________________________ Bill Munro | Centre for Laser Science, | ,,, Department of Physics | (o o) University of Queensland, | -oOO-(_)-OOo- QLD 4072, Brisbane, Australia | I am Pentium of Borg Phone: +(61 7) 3365 2422 | Divison is Futile Fax: +(61 7) 3365 1242 | You will be approximated Email: billm@physics.uq.edu.au | WWW: http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/people/billm | _______________________________________________________