Alex is a physicist now working as a postdoc at the group of Prof. Andrew Martin at the University of Melbourne. With a formal training in experimental atomic physics, his work has been more recently broadened to include the dynamics of NV and SiV centers in diamond. He is particularly interested in the interplay between the NV spin and the physical rotation of the host crystal. He will be working with us for about a month and a half. We are really glad to have him here!

The results in this paper show that by judiciously choosing the illumination wavelength and intensity it is possible to control the charge state of SiV centers in diamond, a defect of emerging importance for metrology and quantum information processing applications. Kudos to Siddharth, Pablo, and Jake!

The article “Multispin-assisted optical pumping of bulk ¹³C nuclear spin polarization in diamond”, by D. Pagliero et al. will be an ‘Editor’s suggestion’ in the upcoming volume of Physical Review B. These are papers that the editors and referees find of particular
interest, importance, or clarity. Approximately 5% of all papers published by PRB fall in this category. Congratulations to all authors!

Early this month Henry received the Hamermesh award to the best undergraduate experimentalist in physics. Last year he was named a Levine Rising Junior and more recently he was admitted to the UCLA physics graduate program; he will be moving to LA early this fall. We will miss you, Henry!

Dr. Harishankar Jayakumar is among the CCNY nominees to the regional Blavatnik award for young scientists for his work on the control of trapped charge in diamond. Congratulations Hari!!

The Blavatnik Regional Awards acknowledge and celebrate the excellence of outstanding postdoctoral scientists from institutions in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. More information about the award can be found here.

After working with our group as a CCNY physics undergraduate, Henry has been admitted to graduate school in UCLA. Congratulations Henry! Way to go!

Nabeel Aslam joins us from the pi3 group at the University of Stuttgart where he works under the supervision of Prof. J. Wrachtrup. His work focuses on the physics and applications of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond. He will be staying with us during two months. We are happy to have you here, Nabeel!

Science blogs around the world echo our Science Advances paper on NV charge control. Below is an example from Israel.