Towards High Resolution Sensing Using Color Centers in Diamond

The tool box of integrated nanophotonics today is rich: from the ability to guide and amplify multiple wavelength sources at GHz bandwidths, to optomechanical MEMS and optical interconnects. Research in the area of nanophotonics has provided new understanding that impacts their use across disciplines, from quantum computing to microscopy, sensing and biological applications. Moreover, recently it has found a niche application in precision metrology. In this talk I will outline the recent advances in nanotechnology that have enabled fabrication of nanoscale optical devices in silicon nitride that can be exploited for frequency metrology. Dispersion-engineering this material enables generation of ultra-broadband optical frequency comb that are useful for precise frequency calibration. Building upon this theme of precision measurements, I will discuss diamond as a platform for sensitive rotation sensing (gyroscope). Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond are atomic-scale spin systems with remarkable quantum properties that persist at room temperature. Quantum engineering the properties of NV centers may allow for precision rotation metrology. 

Bio: Kasturi Saha is a postdoctoral fellow in Prof. Paola Cappellaro’s group in the Research Laboratory of Electronics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She obtained her Ph.D. in Prof. Alexander Gaeta’s group in the School of Applied and Engineering Physics at Cornell University in 2013. Her Ph.D. research focused on characterization, time-domain analysis and stabilization of frequency combs generated in silicon nitride microring resonators and ultralow power nonlinear optics in photonic bandgap fibers. She did B.Sc. from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi (2006) and then obtained M.Sc. in Physics from IITD (2008).