Latest News
Jun 2, 2022
Ultracold NaCs Ground State Molecules!
Our latest preprint just appeared on arxiv reporting the first ultracold gases of NaCs ground state molecules ⚛️-⚛️. Ultracold gases of dipolar NaCs molecules open new exciting opportunities for quantum simulation and quantum information - and we cannot wait to explore them. Thanks a lot to the NaCs team for all the amazing work that led to this!
Apr 21, 2022
New Quantum Simulation and Computing Lab Course
We started the new "Quantum Simulation and Computing Lab" course this semester. Students gain hands-on experience with entangled photon pairs, learn about quantum computing hardware, quantum algorithms, and how to program quantum computers. Thanks a lot to our TA team - Aden, Joseph, Shuhan, and Arjun - for making it a great success! Here an article in Columbia News.
Apr 18, 2022
Aden defends his PhD!
Aden Lam, our first grad student graduates! Thank you, Aden, for going on this crazy journey as the first lab member, starting from an empty lab. Congratulations on the successful defense and on an impressive thesis that documents all the wonderful things that you achieved!
Feb 17, 2022
Take a peek into our lab!
The coldest place in New York City is our NaCs lab! Thanks a lot to Columbia for making this beautiful video and thanks to everyone in the lab, who helped making this wonderful instrument a reality! Watch the video here: Youtube.
Feb 8, 2022
Ultracold NaCs Feshbach molecules
Check out our latest preprint on arxiv - first high phase-space density gases of NaCs Feshbach molecules & an exciting step towards ultracold gases of dipolar NaCs ground state molecules ⚛️-⚛️. Thank you to the entire NaCs team for the amazing work! Link to the preprint:
Dec 20, 2021
Laser cooling scheme for carbon dimers
Check out our latest preprint - if you have ever wondered, whether carbon dimers can be laser cooled this paper may offer some answers. Thanks a lot, Niccolò, for leading this study! Link to the preprint:
https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.10745
Oct 11, 2021
Quantum physics outreach featured on Columbia News
QPOP - Quantum Physics Outreach Program - that we have developed in collaboration with STEMteachersNYC is featured on the Columbia News. It has reached more than 100 teachers across the nation so far. Thank you, Claire and everyone involved!
Sep 13, 2021
First in-person seminar after 18 months
Sebastian gives the first in-person seminar at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) at University of Maryland/NIST. The talk was also live streamed on Youtube. It is available here: JQI Seminar
Sep 10, 2021
First Strontium 3D MOT
We made our first 3D MOT of Strontium using a completely homebuilt source. Congrats to the entire TweeSr team, Minho, Aaron, Siwei, Weijun, Max, and Quan, on this great achievement!
Sep 2, 2021
2BEC paper is out
Our paper on overlapping Bose-Einstein condensates of Na and Cs came out in PRA with an Editors' Suggestion. Congrats to the entire team for the amazing work! Check out the paper here: Phys. Rev. A 104, 033302 (2021)
Jun 21, 2021
DURIP Award
We received a DURIP award from the Office of Naval Research supporting our NaCs molecule effort. Thanks a lot to the ONR DURIP program for the tremendous support! More information here.
Jun 4, 2021
DAMOP 2021
We had a very successful DAMOP this year with Minho, Aden, Claire, Niccolò, Aaron, and Weijun all presenting on our recent developments. Nice job all!
Jun 2, 2021
Overlapping BECs of Na and Cs
Check out our latest paper - first dual Bose-Einstein condensates of sodium and cesium. Two overlapping superfluids and exciting conditions to make very cold clouds of NaCs ground state molecules. Congrats to the entire NaCs Lab team for this great achievement! Link to the preprint: arxiv:2106.01334
May 31, 2021
Triangular Lattice from Metasurface
We got our first image of a triangular lattice pattern from a metasurface! It is the first step towards integrating this novel nanophotonic platform into an AMO experiment. We are looking forward to trapping atoms using it in the near future! Thank you Xiaoyan from Prof. Nanfang Yu’s group for providing the metasurfaces.
Jan 28, 2021
Array of 900 Laser Traps
We produced an optical tweezer array with 30x30 traps! It is generated by two crossed acousto-optic deflectors driven with a comb of radiofrequency tones. The trap spacing is about 5 micrometers. Congrats to the entire TweeSr lab!
Dec 21, 2020
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year
The entire Will Lab wishes happy and healthy holidays and a great start into the New Year 2021! Thank you to the TweeSr team for the beautiful holiday visual!
Dec 12, 2020
2D MOT Paper
Our new paper on our newly developed compact 2D MOT for Cesium is out on arxiv. The setup has helped us to make a Cesium BEC within 10 months despite a 3 months lab shutdown due to COVID. Congrats to the entire NaCs team on the amazing work!
Sep 25, 2020
NSF Convergence Accelerator
We are excited to receive one of the competitive NSF Convergence Accelerator grants. In this project, we will lead the development of an integrated quantum simulator based on programmable atom arrays. We are looking forward to an exciting collaboration with colleagues at Columbia University, Brookhaven National Lab, CUNY, Flatiron Institute, and industry partners from Atom Computing, QuEra, IBM and Bloomberg. More details here. See also press release.
Sep 16, 2020
First Cesium BEC
First Cesium Bose-Einstein condensate in the NaCs lab! Less than a year after the Sodium BEC, we have made the Cesium BECs in the same apparatus, lowering the temperature of the coldest spot in NYC by another factor of 10 to about 10 nanokelvin above absolute zero.
Sep 1, 2020
Strontium Joins the Lab
Welcome to a new element at Will Lab! Today we observed the first signal of strontium in our new TweeSr apparatus, adding another beautiful hue to the lab! For more information on TweeSr click here.
Aug 24, 2020
Microwave Dressing of Dipolar Molecules
Our work on the first demonstration of microwave dressing of ultracold dipolar molecules is out! The dressing leads to resonant dipolar interactions with important implications for quantum simulation and quantum computation with dipolar molecules. Paper and Physics Feature.
Jun 24, 2020
RISE Award
Sebastian receive a 2020 RISE Award together with Daniel Savin to investigate novel concepts for generating, manipulating, and trapping pure samples of complex organic molecules. We are looking forward t this exciting research project. More information here.
Feb 7, 2020
First MOT of Cesium
First magneto-optical trap of cesium at Columbia! We are creating laser-cooled ensembles of cesium in the main chamber of our ultracold molecules apparatus - a crucial step on the way to assembling ultracold NaCs molecules from Na and Cs atoms. Congrats to the entire team!!
Nov 18, 2019
Ernest Kempton Adams Lecture
We are hosting Immanuel Bloch who gives the Ernest Kempton Adams Lecture 2019 and speaks about "Many-Body Quantum Dynamics under the Microscope." Thank you very much for the visit and the inspiring lecture!
Oct 17, 2019
First BEC in NYC
First Bose-Einstein Condensate in New York City! We have created the first atomic BEC at Columbia University, making Will Lab the coldest spot in New York City :)
Congratulations to the entire team - especially Aden, Claire, Niccolò, and Ian - for making this possible only about one year after moving into the renovated labs! This is a tremendous achievement.
Aug 13, 2019
QII-TAQS
We are excited to receive a prestigeous QII-TAQS grant from the National Science Foundation! In collaboration with Co-PIs Ana Asenjo-Garcia and Nanfang Yu, we will realize a new type of programmable atomic tweezer array and explore novel schemes to enhance coherence of atomic excitations in such arrays. More information here. There are exciting grad student and postdoc opportunities on this project - don't hesitate to contact Sebastian Will. See also press release.
Apr 19, 2019
Joint Quantum Symposium 2019
The Joint Quantum Symposium 2019 has been a great success. Thanks to all the speakers and the many, many attendees! Many thanks for the generous support from Bloomberg, IBM Q, Toptica Photonics, Vescent Photonics, and Quantum Design, as well as the Columbia Physics Department and the Data Science Institute for organizational support. Pictures of the symposium are available here. Looking forward to see you at Joint Quantum Symposium 2020!
Mar 14, 2019
2nd Joint Quantum Symposium
We are hosting the 2nd Joint Quantum Symposium on April 18-19, 2019 at Columbia University. The topics include quantum networks, quantum materials, quantum simulation and quantum compu-ting. Registration is open until April 14. Register now! For more information visit www.jointquantumsymposium.com.
Mar 8, 2019
NSF Career Award
Sebastian receives a prestigious CAREER Award of the National Science Foundation! More information here.