APAM Faculty Contributions to Columbia Quantum Initiative

Columbia Quantum Initiative

Sevearal APAM faculy members are part of the Columbia Quantum Initiative. "Building on the collaborative culture long fostered at Columbia, the Quantum Initiative is combining interdisciplinary expertise in materials science, photonics, quantum theory, and more, all while taking advantage of our unique position in the global hub that is New York to develop novel quantum technologies that will open new frontiers into how we compute through complex problems, communicate with one another, and sense the world around us." (Columbia Quantum Initiative website)

Alexander Gaeta, the David M. Rickey Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science and Professor of Electrical Engineering, is co-chair of the Quantum Initiative Task Force.

Key members in the Quantum Initiative also include APAM faculty members in Applied Physics, Applied Mathematics, and Materials Science & Engineering:

• Simon Billinge: Professor of Materials Science and Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics
• Irving Herman: Edwin Howard Armstrong Professor of Applied Physics
• Michal Lipson: Eugene Higgins Professor of Electrical Engineering and Professor of Applied Physics
• Chris Marianetti: Associate Professor of Materials Science and of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics
• Latha Venkataraman: Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and the Lawrence Gussman Professor of Applied Physics and Professor of Chemistry
• Michael Weinstein: Professor of Applied Mathematics and Professor of Mathematics
• Renata Wentzcovitch: Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Earth and Environmental Science
• Nanfang Yu: Associate Professor of Applied Physics and Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics

History:

APAM faculty members, including Professor Richard Osgood, Horst Stormer, Irving Herman, Latha Venkataraman, Alexander Gaeta, and Michal Lipson, were featured in Columbia Quantum Initiative's Quantum "History at Columbia". 

• 1981 Surface Nano-Photochemistry: Richard Osgood, the Higgins Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering and Professor Emeritus of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, develops a major program at the RAD Lab based on nanoscale surface chemical photoreactions, which has applications in surface patterning of future quantum-based photonic and electronic structures.
   
• 1998 A New Focus on Condensed Matter: Horst Stormer, Professor Emeritus of Applied Physics and I.I. Rabi Professor Emeritus of Physics, wins the 1998 Nobel Prize in physics for discovering a new form of quantum fluid with fractionally charged excitations in what’s known as the fractional quantum Hall effect. Stormer leaves Bell Labs for Columbia the same year, taking Aron Pinczuk, Professor of Physics and of Applied Physics, with him and bringing added expertise in condensed matter physics to Columbia.
   
• 1998 Designing Never-Seen Before Materials At Nanoscales: The US National Science Foundation funds a Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Columbia to develop nanostructured materials with electronics applications. MRSEC was led by Irving Herman, the Edwin Howard Armstrong Professor of Applied Physics.
   
• 2001 Probing Moving Electrons: Columbia receives its first NSF-sponsored Nanoscale Science & Engineering Center (NSEC) grant. Directed by Horst Stormer and CISE Director James Yardley, the NSEC focuses on electron transport in molecular nanostructures.
   
• 2006 Conduction in Single Molecules: Professors Latha Venkataraman and Colin Nuckolls demonstrate quantized electrical conduction in a single molecule, leading to new insights at the molecular level. Latha Venkataraman is the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and the Lawrence Gussman Professor of Applied Physics and Professor of Chemistry.
   
• 2018 Combing Through Quantum Sensing: Alexander Gaeta and Michal Lipson demonstrate that optical comb technology can be realized in a highly compact form and operate at ultralow powers, such that it could be driven by AAA battery for 20 hours. Optical frequency combs can play an important role in quantum sensing, including the development of high precision optical clocks. Alexander Gaeta is the David M. Rickey Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science and Professor of Electrical Engineering. Michal Lipson is the Eugene Higgins Professor of Electrical Engineering and Professor of Applied Physics.