Dr Lincoln Turner - Researcher Profile

Lincoln Turner

Address

School of Physics
Building 26, Clayton

Biography

Lincoln works in the School of Physics at Monash University as a Monash Research Fellow

Lincoln’s research areas of interest are:

The areas of atomic, molecular and optical physics. He is particularly interested in applying ultracold matter and Bose-Einstein condensates to enable precision measurements of magnetic fields, and of the spin properties of novel states of cold matter.

Lincoln is also interested in novel methods of measuring Bose-Einstein condensates with minimal heating of the condensate. He developed a holographic imaging method which reconstructs images of cold atom clouds from diffraction pattern images, and enables high-resolution imaging with minimal heating of the ultracold gas. Recently, Lincoln lead a team at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) which demonstrated the first continuous measurement of the spin state of a Bose-Einstein condensate.

Current projects include:

• Ultraprecise magnetometry with optically-trapped Bose-Einstein condensates
• Spontaneous and measurement-induced spin squeezing in spinor BEC (with Yingmei-Liu and Paul Lett, NIST)
• Theory of adiabatic evolution of non-linear spinor systems (with honours student Lucas Rutten)
• Two-colour squeezing from four-wave mixing in hot atomic vapours (collaboration with Martijn Jasperse and Robert Scholten, University of Melbourne)
• High-bandwidth high-quantum efficiency photodetectors for quantum optics (with Paul Lett, NIST)
• Low-light shot-noise limited autobalanced photodetectors
• Simplified designs for narrow linewidth external-cavity diode lasers

PhD and honours positions available

Projects are available for students interested in either experimental or theoretical work. Projects can be tailored to include a mix of theory and experiment, and are available at honours and PhD level. An honours project might include one of the topics listed below, while a PhD project would span several. If you're interested in a related area and want to know if there's a relevant project, just ask!

Possible honours and PhD projects are listed below, along with the areas of expertise you'll develop in each one. Note that knowledge of these ares is not a pre-requisite, it's what you can expect to learn during the project. You'll also be involved in other work in the lab and learn a wide range of physics and experimental techniques along the way.

Experimental projects


•Design of a high-flux rubidium oven and beam characterisation using pseudo-random bit sequence Doppler fluorescence (vacuum engineering, photodetection, data acquisition and signal processing)
•Zeeman slower with multiple ion pumps for producing a cold atomic beam (magnetic design and simulation, optimisation theory, vacuum engineering)
•A novel dipole trap using a filtered master-oscillator power amplified (MOPA) laser (optics, spectroscopy, working with laser-cooled atom clouds)
•Computer-controlled offset-lock to stabilise laser frequencies (optics, analog and digital electronics, LabVIEW programming)
•Two-watt high-power semiconductor laser system development (optical and optomechanical design, CAD/solid modelling, some electronics)
•Fast digital control of intensity and frequency of laser light: development of computer-controlled acousto-optic modulator drivers (radiofrequency and digital electronics, LabVIEW and microcontroller programming, lab optics)
•High-resolution aspheric lens systems for standard and holographic imaging of cold atoms (lens design, optical engineering, aberration theory, inverse problems, holography, phase retreival)
•Magnetic trap design (high-current electronic design, magnetostatics, CAD, control theory and some plumbing!)
•Autobalancing photodetectors: detecting light at the shot-noise limit, despite noisy lasers (precision analog electronics, circuit simulations with PSPICE, spectrum and noise analysis, some control theory)
Theory projects
•Statistical mechanics of a hybrid magnetic-quadrupole optical-dipole trap (monte carlo simulations, atomic collision physics, statistical mechanics)
•Quantum limits of magnetometry (quantum stochastic equations, estimation theory)
•Chaos in nonlinear quantum systems (chaos theory, stochastic quantum theory, simulations)
Computational projects
•A real-time data analysis system for a BEC laboratory (GUI programming in python, LabView and/or IDL, interprocess communication, some hardware interfacing)
•Signal processing for quantum magnetometry (digital signal processing, estimation theory, wavelets, chirplets)
•Web 2.0 in the Lab: Laboratory blogging and wikis for online sharing and presentation of ideas, designs and results (web service configuration, wiki design, blog writing, through to model-view-controller web application development as interested)

Interested students should contact Lincoln Turner at any time to discuss potential projects.

Keywords

Atomic physics, Molecular physics, Optical physics

Qualifications

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Institution: The University of melbourne
Year awarded: 2005
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONORS 1)
Institution: Flinders University
Year awarded: 1999

Publications

Book Chapters

Scholten, R.E., Bell, S., Sheludko, D., White, J.D., Turner, L.D., Meijer, T., Smeets, B., Jeppessen, M., Hofmann, C., Jasperse, M.J., Anderson, R.P., 2009, Quantum coherence in the rubidium 5S-5P-5D ladder system: Applications in frequency conversion, imaging, and squeezing, in New Trends in Quantum Coherence and Nonlinear Optics (Horizons in World Physics Series), eds Rafael Drampyan, Nova Publishers, USA, pp. 7.1-7.19.

Journal Articles

Jasperse, M., Turner, L., Scholten, R., 2011, Relative intensity squeezing by four-wave mixing with loss: An analytic model and experimental diagnostic, Optics Express [P], vol 19, issue 4, Optical Society of America, USA, pp. 3765-3774.

Bell, S., Junker, M., Jasperse, M., Turner, L., Lin, Y., Spielman, I., Scholten, R., 2010, A slow atom source using a collimated effusive oven and a single-layer variable pitch coil Zeeman slower, Review of Scientific Instruments [P], vol 81, issue 1, American Institute of Physics, Melville New York USA, pp. 1-7.

Saliba, S., Junker, M., Turner, L.D., Scholten, R.E., 2009, Mode stability of external cavity diode lasers, Applied Optics [P], vol 48, issue 35, Optical Society of America, USA, pp. 6692-6700.

Liu, Y., Gomez, E., Maxwell, S.E., Turner, L.D., Tiesinga, E., Lett, P.D., 2009, Number fluctuations and energy dissipation in sodium spinor condensates, Physical Review Letters [P], vol 102, The American Physical Society, USA, pp. 225301-1-225301-4.

Liu, Y., Jung, S., Maxwell, S.E., Turner, L.D., Tiesinga, E., Lett, P.D., 2009, Quantum phase transitions and continuous observation of spinor dynamics in an antiferromagnetic condensate, Physical Review Letters [P], vol 102, The American Physical Society, USA, pp. 125301-1-125301-4.

Gomez, E., Black, A.T., Turner, L.D., Tiesinga, E., Lett, P.D., 2007, Light forces in ultracold photoassociation, Physical Review A, vol 75, American Physical Society, USA, pp. 013420-1-013420-6.

Black, A.T., Gomez, E., Turner, L.D., Jung, S., Lett, P.D., 2007, Spinor dynamics in an antiferromagnetic spin-1 condensate, Physical Review Letters, vol 99, American Physical Society, USA, pp. 070403-1-070403-4.

Turner, L.D., Domen, K.F.E., Scholten, R.E., 2005, Diffraction-contrast imaging of cold atoms, Physical Review A - Rapid Communications, vol 72, The American Physical Society, USA, pp. 031403-1-031403-4.

Turner, L.D., Weber, K.P., Paganin, D.M., Scholten, R.J., 2004, Off-resonant Defocus-Contrast Imaging of Cold Atoms, Optics Letters, vol 29, issue 3, Optical Society of America, USA, pp. 232-234.

Turner, L.D., Dahl, B.B., Hayes, J.P., Mancuso, A.P., Nugent, K.A., Paterson, D., Scholten, R.E., Tran, C.Q., Peele, A.G., 2004, X-ray phase imaging: Demonstration of extended conditions with homogeneous objects, Optical Express, vol 12, issue 13, Optical Society of America, USA, pp. 2960-2965.

Turner, L.D., Weber, K.P., Hawthorn, C.J., Scholten, R.E., 2002, Frequency noise characterisation of narrow linewidth diode lasers, Optics Communications, vol 201, Elsevier Science BV, The Netherlands, pp. 391-397.

Fox, P.J., Macklin, T.R., Turner, L.D., Colton, I., Nugent, K.A., Scholten, R.E., 2002, Noninterferometric phase imaging of a neutral atomic beam, Optical Society of America Journal B: Optical Physics, vol 19, issue 8, Optical Society of America, USA, pp. 1773-1776.

Turner, L.D., Karaganov, V., Teubner, P.J.O., Scholten, R.E., 2002, Sub-doppler bandwidth atomic optical filter, Optics Letters, vol 27, issue 7, Optical Society of America, USA, pp. 500-502.

Conference Proceedings

Turner, L.D., Jung, S., Black, A.T., Gomez, E., Lett, P.D., 2007, Continuous Faraday measurement of spinor BEC, Quantum-Atom Optics Downunder, Optical Society of America, USA, p. QTuB4.

Turner, L.D., Black, A.T., Gomez, E., Tiesinga, E., Lett, P.D., 2006, Matter wave EIT in Raman photoassociation, Frontiers in Optics 2006, Optical Society of America, USA, p. LMC5.

Turner, L.D., Slavec, A., Weber, K.P., White, J., Domen, K.F.E., Scholten, R.E., 2005, Control theory for frequency stabilisation of external cavity diode lasers, 16th National Congress 2005, 30 January 2005 to 4 February 2005, Australian Institute of Physics, Australia, pp. 1-4.

Turner, L.D., Domen, K.F.E., Scholten, R.E., 2005, Holographic Imaging of Cold Atoms, 16th National Congress 2005 - Physics for the Nation, 30 January 2005 to 4 February 2005, Australian Institute of Physics, Australia, pp. 1-4.

Postgraduate Research Supervisions

Current Supervision

Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Supervisors:
Helmerson, K (Main), Turner, L (Associate).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Coherent dynamics of spinor condensates in dressing fields.
Supervisors:
Turner, L (Main), Anderson, R (Associate), Helmerson, K (Associate).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
High resolution magnetic resonance imaging of Bose-Einstein condensates.
Supervisors:
Turner, L (Main), Anderson, R (Associate), Helmerson, K (Associate).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Non-equilibrium dynamics in one-dimensional ultracold atomic gases.
Supervisors:
Helmerson, K (Main), Turner, L (Associate).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Optimising evaporative cooling using the direct simulation Monte Carlo Algorithm.
Supervisors:
Turner, L (Joint-co), Anderson, R (Associate), Price, D (Associate).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
The effects of controlled disorder on the superfluid transition of a 2D Bose gas.
Supervisors:
Helmerson, K (Main), Turner, L (Associate).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
The fine art of wavefunction engineering - Spatial control of a condensate wavefunction with sub-heading length resolution..
Supervisors:
Turner, L (Main), Anderson, R (Associate), Helmerson, K (Associate).