David Awschalom

About

Professor David Awschalom is a distinguished scientist in the fields of spintronics and quantum-information engineering. His research involves understanding and controlling the spins of individual electrons, ions, and nuclei for fundamental studies of quantum phenomena within semiconductors and nanostructures. He explores potential applications of quantum systems in computing, sensing, imaging, and encryption, and his group investigates optical and magnetic interactions in semiconductor quantum structures, spin dynamics and coherence in condensed matter systems, macroscopic quantum phenomena in nanometer-scale magnets, and implementations of quantum information processing in the solid state. He has developed various femtosecond-resolved spatiotemporal spectroscopies and micromagnetic sensing techniques, leading to discoveries such as robust electron spin coherence, transport of coherent states, and the spin Hall effect in semiconductors.

Research topics

• Physics
• Computer Science
• Quantum mechanics
• Materials science
• Nanotechnology
• Condensed matter physics
• Engineering physics
• Telecommunications
• Engineering
• Thermodynamics

Selected publications

• Quantum guidelines for solid-state spin defects

  Nature Reviews Materials · 2021 · 498 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  DOI

• Developing silicon carbide for quantum spintronics

  Applied Physics Letters · 2020 · 173 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  In current long-distance communications, classical information carried by large numbers of particles is intrinsically robust to some transmission losses but can, therefore, be eavesdropped without notice. On the other hand, quantum communications can provide provable privacy and could make use of entanglement swapping via quantum repeaters to mitigate transmission losses. To this end, considerable effort has been spent over the last few decades toward developing quantum repeaters that combine lo…

  DOI

• Entanglement and Control of Single Nuclear Spins in Isotopically Engineered Silicon Carbide

  Nature Materials · 2020 · 156 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Nuclear spins in the solid state are both a cause of decoherence and a valuable resource for spin qubits. In this work, we demonstrate control of isolated 29Si nuclear spins in silicon carbide (SiC) to create an entangled state between an optically active divacancy spin and a strongly coupled nuclear register. We then show how isotopic engineering of SiC unlocks control of single weakly coupled nuclear spins and present an ab initio method to predict the optimal isotopic fraction that maximizes…

  DOI

• Quantum Engineering With Hybrid Magnonic Systems and Materials <i>(Invited Paper)</i>

  IEEE Transactions on Quantum Engineering · 2021 · 143 citations

  1st authorCorresponding

  Quantum technology has made tremendous strides over the past two decades with remarkable advances in materials engineering, circuit design, and dynamic operation. In particular, the integration of different quantum modules has benefited from hybrid quantum systems, which provide an important pathway for harnessing different natural advantages of complementary quantum systems and for engineering new functionalities. This review article focuses on the current frontiers with respect to utilizing ma…

  DOI

• Development of Quantum Interconnects (QuICs) for Next-Generation Information Technologies

  PRX Quantum · 2021 · 82 citations

  1st authorCorresponding

  Just as classical information technology rests on a foundation built of interconnected information-processing systems, quantum information technology (QIT) must do the same. A critical component of such systems is the interconnect, a device or process that allows transfer of information between disparate physical media, for example, semiconductor electronics, individual atoms, light pulses in optical fiber, or microwave fields. While interconnects have been well engineered for decades in the rea…

  DOI

Recent grants

• Collaborative Research: Coherent Spin Control in Microfabricated Semiconductor Geometries

  NSF · $695k · 2008–2013

• Collaborative Research: Coherent Spin Dynamics of Electrons, Ions and Nuclei in Confined Geometries

  NSF · $650k · 2003–2008

• WORKSHOP: The Fourth International School and Conference on Spintronics and Quantum Information Technology

  NSF · $25k · 2007–2007

Frequent coauthors

• F. Joseph Heremans

  Argonne National Laboratory

  220 shared

• N. Samarth

  Pennsylvania State University

  133 shared

• Giulia Galli

  University of Chicago

  84 shared

• Gary Wolfowicz

  Argonne National Laboratory

  73 shared

• Nazar Delegan

  University of Chicago

  64 shared

• A. C. Gossard

  University of California, Santa Barbara

  61 shared

• Bob B. Buckley

  60 shared

• Roberto C. Myers

  51 shared

Labs

• David Awschalom LabPI

Education

• B.S., Physics

  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Ph.D., Experimental Physics

  Cornell University

Awards & honors

• American Physical Society Oliver E. Buckley Prize
• Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize
• European Physical Society Europhysics Prize
• Materials Research Society David Turnbull Award and Outstand…
• AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize

Similar researchers at University of Chicago

• John Carlstromh-136
• Robert Waldh-111
• Carlos Wagnerh-101