In 2018, our ATRAP collaboration produced 5 trapped antihydrogen atoms per hour long trial. An apparatus with a Ioffe octupole trap and a faster magnet dump was used to confine and detect trapped antihydrogen atoms. This apparatus is unique in that four sideports spaced at 90 degrees from each other...
Micro-X is a high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy sounding rocket mission that had its first flight in July 2018, becoming the first program to carry Transition-Edge Sensors (TES) and multiplexing Superconducting QUantum Interference Device (SQUID) readout electronics into space, successfully collect data, and subsequently recover the instruments. While a rocket pointing failure...
Quantum technologies have the capability of greatly increasing the security of communication systems. Many components are required for a full quantum network including memory, repeaters, routers, and detectors. The efficiencies of quantum communication technologies suffer greatly due to their inherent sensitivity to loss. Low-loss propagation and high detection efficiency can...
Electrostatic interactions mediated by ionic environments play a central role in physical processes across materials science, chemistry and biology. Key biological phenomena, such as the condensation and packaging of DNA, ion transport across cellular membranes and the enzymatic action of proteins, rely on the complex interplay between nanoscale electrostatic, osmotic...
Quantum metrology has been among the most vigorous branches of quantum technology. It involves using quantum effects to achieve better estimation of parameters of a physical sys- tem. Conventionally the system consists of an ensemble of N non-interacting atoms and the measurements are done on individual atomic states, such as...
Understanding how spin waves propagate through ferromagnets is an important component of a wider international effort to create spintronic devices. In this thesis, we develop a propagating spin wave spectroscopy to make a variety of measurements on thin films of Yttrium Iron Garnet (YIG), a material known for having long...
Two unique structures make up the nucleus of our Galaxy on different scale sizes. On a broad scale of a few hundreds of parsecs, there is the well-known central molecular zone which comprises a substantial component of the gas in the Galaxy. The other, known as the mini-spiral, is streamers...
Chip-based photonic devices are doing for optics what integrated circuits have done for electronics. By directly combining many individual components in a compact, scalable and robust way, photonic chips open the possibility for creating optical and electro-optical devices that could not be practical with discrete components. The applications for this...
At the interface of two dissimilar entities, something novel can emerge. This idea has driven a vast amount of fruitful work on semiconductor interfaces, and given us the digital revolution. In the past decade, remarkable progress has been made in the synthesis and understanding of interfaces between oxides, opening up...
Renewable energy technology, more so than ever before, is critical to the survival of humanity. For decades, concentrated efforts into designing and developing such novel devices resulted in the innovation of solar-driven photovoltaics that were competitive with nonrenewable alternatives. This thesis explores the dynamic behavior of alternative material candidates that...