Dr. Lindsay LeBlanc
University of Alberta, Canada

Lindsay J. LeBlanc is Associate Professor of Physics at the University of Alberta, and Canada Research Chair in Ultracold Quantum Gases. With her team, she is engaged in research in quantum simulations with ultracold atoms, quantum memories in cold atomic systems, and microwave atom-optics in ambient-temperature vapours. Dr. LeBlanc earned her BSc in Engineering Physics from the University of Alberta in 2003 and her Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Toronto in 2011, after which she headed to Gaithersburg, MD, where she worked as a postdoctoral fellow with the Laser Cooling and Trapping Group of the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) at the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST).


Abstract:
Atomic quantum technologies: quantum memory and nonlinear microwave atom-optics

Atomic ensembles are exceptionally well-suited to mediating photonic signals for storage and manipulation, due to the strong, well-known interactions between atoms and light. Cold and ultracold atoms additionally offer the opportunity to realize long-lived storage among ground-state sublevels, motivating these systems as promising candidates for quantum memories. In our lab, we explore fast, broadband, and efficient quantum memory using laser-cooled rubidium atoms. To do this, we have employed the Autler-Townes splitting protocol and a superradiant fast protocol, and find low-noise, high-performance memories in both cases.

In another set of experiments, we use the alkalis' multiplicity of atomic levels to simultaneously address microwave and optical transitions in a ambient-temperature ensemble, enhancing the microwave transition with a high-quality cavity. One opportunitiy in this system is the nonlinear sum-frequency generation between input 6.8 GHz microwave and 384 THz (780 nm) optical fields, with which we demonstrate coherence in a kind of microwave-to-optical conversion, and show that the output optical frequency can be tuned across over 500 MHz, due to the Doppler broadening of the atomic sample. This platform is well-suited to applications in quantum sensing and microwave-controlled signal manipulation.

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