Session Q30: FIAP Prize Symposium

Prize Talk: FIAP Career Lectureship AwardTransforming Your Physics Knowledge and Skills into Solutions for Real-World Challenges

This talk is designed for individuals with a passion for continuous learning. A passion that is not only about exploring new ideas within your specific research domain, but also delving into subjects that lie beyond your typical area of expertise, possibly even extending into fields outside the scope of physics. My goal here is to show you how your curiosity and love for learning can help you develop your unique and remarkable career journey. 

My physics education has played a significant role in my professional career. From studying the most violent phenomena in the universe by detecting and analyzing subatomic particles, to creating new pedagogical methods for empowering the next generation of workforce, to developing machine learning models for detecting cancer and cardiac diseases, I believe physics has always given me the vision and mindset to overcome challenges and make strategic decisions. 

As a physicist, you constantly grow your knowledge and skill set and accumulate valuable tools applicable across various domains. I will demonstrate how you can transform your physics knowledge, skills, and experience into tangible impact outside of the academic world. And how believing in your capabilities will help you more openly choose the next steps in your journey that leads to fulfilling achievements. I will also discuss the contributions of physicists in various roles across industries, especially in data science with a few examples including from my own career journey and explore the emerging data science and machine learning jobs in the next few years.   

Prize Talk: George E. Pake PrizeA vision for the next 75 years -- from a transistor to AI enabler

The discovery of quantum physics in the early 20th century enabled the development of solid-state devices and circuits, thus making Tera-bit integrated circuits technology and the semiconductor industry possible. The invention of the transistor 75 years ago, was not only a replacement of vacuum tube electronics but also a creation of a brand new modern electronic and information industry. 

In the past 60 years, semiconductor integrated circuits technology has progressed with exponential pace, and resulted in a tremendously thriving information technology and communication (ITC) industry. This amazing progress was driven by the past 30+ consecutive generations of device shrinkage with silicon processing technology scaling, according to the conjecture of an empirical Moore’s Law. Now this classical Moore’s Law may be ending with the challenges of one nanometer or sub-nanometer node. However, it is believed that the one nanometer barrier could be virtually conquered by some sophisticated but smart approaches. Effectively, Moore’s Law will continue with various forms of virtual scaling, such as 1,000-layer 3D NAND structure, optimized Chiplet approaches, 2D material transistors, or heterogeneous integration assembly, etc. to improve the overall ITC system’s functionality and cost performance/power ratio. Another 30-40 years of prosperous semiconductor IC technology and ITC industry could be well expected.

However, the next really explosive scaling route is a disruptive and revolutionary technology now appearing on the horizon – quantum computing and quantum communication. Quantum physics was discovered a hundred years ago, but there are still so many treasures to be explored in this field. The new exponential scaling law will be naturally realized in a relay race with the past 60 years of classical Moore’s Law. This super exponential scaling could realize all kinds of future technologies and applications that we can only imagine today, such as enabling explosive AI capabilities. This disruptive quantum technology compliments the progressive sub-nano semiconductor technology will result in a new wave of revolutionary industries. Multiple multi-trillion-dollar industries are waiting for us and our posterity.    

Laser-Material Interactions in Metal Additive Manufacturing

Complex hydrodynamics driven by vapor recoil and Marangoni convection lead to non-uniform liquid metal interfaces which can form voids or roughness upon rapid solidification. To clarify the physics involved and establish pathways towards mitigation, in situ X-ray and optical imaging are used to study the dynamics of keyhole pore formation and surface morphology evolution in Ti and Al alloys. The experimental observations are compared to microscale hydrodynamic finite element modeling which captures the laser-melt pool interaction through ray tracing and predicts melt pool depths accurately.   

Building Spin-Orbit Qubits with Holes in Silicon and Germanium

Quantum computers hold the potential to solve key tasks exponentially faster than classical computers, giving rise to a new quantum era. Classical transistor scaling achieved the integration of billions of transistors on-chip reaching sizes so small that a single electron or hole can be trapped and held in place. The magnetic moment of such a trapped charge – the spin – is a prime contender for building scalable quantum bits out of classical transistors, thus making semiconductor spins a leading candidate for full-scale quantum computing.

The spin-orbit interaction (SOI) is at the heart of key phenomena in condensed matter physics. It arises from the relativistic physics conveniently creating magnetic out of electric fields, working very efficiently for holes in semiconductors. This makes possible all-electrical coherent spin manipulation without requiring micromagnets, thus reducing the qubit footprint and improving scaling. Yet the SOI, similar to micromagnets, also opens the door for charge noise to cause spin dephasing, thus posing a fundamental challenge for spin qubits.

In this talk, I will present recent progress on building spin-orbit qubits with holes in Ge/Si core/shell nanowires and Si fin FETs. Highlights include ultrafast qubits, taking only 1 ns to coherently rotate a spin from pointing up to down; operation of spin qubits up to 5 K, where vast cooling power becomes available, making possible integration of the classical control electronics; operation of a 2-qubit gate with highly anisotropic exchange, allowing for high fidelity gate operation while operating at high speeds; and finally a sweet spot combining both maximal coherence and maximal speed, thus opening new avenues for ultrafast and highly coherent spin-orbit qubits.

These experiments are supported by laboratory instruments developed by our spin-off Basel Precision Instruments GmbH, including low-noise amplifiers, high-resolution voltage sources and cryogenic microwave filters and thermalizers, https://baspi.ch.   

In situ Monitoring of Polymers via Low-frequency Raman Spectroscopy: Samuel Lofland

Polymers are among the most used materials in manufacturing so it is essential to understand their structure-processing-property relationships. While polymer properties can be evaluated by various techniques, the process analytical technology used in production requires real-time (and preferably remote) monitoring. This is inherently difficult to implement for most experimental methods, the exception being optical approaches. Raman and infrared spectroscopies are sensitive to chemical bonding, and changes therein provide pertinent insight into the state of the polymer; however, both techniques suffer from signal-to-noise issues that arise depending upon the type of bond. However, recent advances in photonics technology have made it possible to measure the low-frequency (< 100 cm^‑1) Raman signal with spectrometers that are smaller, cheaper, and significantly easier to use. In the low-frequency region, low-lying structural excitations dominate the Raman response, and for amorphous materials the resulting spectra relate to the phonon density of states and the conformational entropy. These spectra display universal features that can be followed for real-time and spatially localized monitoring of polymer properties and kinetics.