Pooja Malik - LMU München
1. Briefly describe your current position/project, research focus, and your role within MCQST.
I am a second year PhD student in the group of Prof. Harald Weinfurter. We work with single-atoms based platform for application in quantum cryptography and quantum networks. We recently achieved atom-photon entanglement over 101 km optical fiber. A state selective Raman transfer to shield our atom from magnetic field fluctuations increased the coherence time of our memory by more than an order of magnitude. This enabled the long distance atom-photon entanglement.
2. What does a typical work day look like for you?
I think there is no typical work day. Apart from the usual answering emails, attending seminars and meetings and drinking lots of coffee, the lab always offers something new to do.
For example, we have two fully functional single atom traps, and we ran out of atoms in one of them! So we had to open the vacuum, replace the empty dispensers, close and perform a bake-out of the vacuum system. And doing this was not our list this year. We hoped to trap atoms again after the operation before we left for Christmas holidays. I left for holidays, but shout out to my colleague Florian Fertig for continuing and trapping some atoms!
3. What are your plans for the holidays?
My parents are visiting me for Christmas and I plan to spend holidays with them. It is very exciting because it is their first time visiting me in Germany and also their first time outside of India. We make a small vacation in Italy and spend the rest of the time in Munich.