Florian Burger - Max Planck Institue of Quantum Optics
1. Briefly describe your current position/project, research focus, and your role within MCQST.
I am a PhD student in the Quantum Networks Group at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, led by Prof. Andreas Reiserer. We aim to establish erbium dopants in silicon as a novel physical qubit well-suited for large-scale quantum networks. My project involves enhancing the optical emission of erbium with nanofabricated slow-light waveguides on silicon chips.
© C. Hohmann / MCQST 2. You initiated the "Nanofabrication" seminar series this year. Tell us about the initiative and the motivation to start it.
The importance of technical knowledge for successfully doing experimental physics research cannot be overestimated. Nanofabrication in particular requires specialized training and ideally years of experience. However, it is mainly PhD students who carry out this work, so retaining and sharing existing expertise is essential. This is why my fellow PhD students Agnes Zinth, Fabian Becker, Leon Koch, and Timo Sommer and I started the MCQST-wide seminar "Practical Top-Down Nanofabrication in Quantum Technology". We want to foster communication and collaboration, specifically the exchange of practical experience and best practices in top-down nanofabrication, within and across MCQST groups. Ultimately, we hope to leverage synergies within the cluster and contribute to improving the competitiveness of quantum device research in Munich. Since March of this year, more than 40 nanofabrication practitioners, PhD and M.Sc. students, have attended one or more of the seminar sessions.
If you would like to receive updates about the upcoming seminar sessions, sign up for our mailing list. The next session will take place in the Herbert Walther Lecture Hall at MPQ on December 6th, from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
We hope to leverage synergies within the cluster and contribute to improving the competitiveness of quantum device research in Munich.
3. Are you cooking or baking anything for the holidays?
Just as in the last few years, I will bake a type of Christmas cookie called "Vanillekipferl". Maybe this year I will succeed in getting them "just right" – like they are back home.