Towards faster and quantum-noise limited maser materials; developments in miniaturising and searching for new organic maser gain media

ORAL

Abstract

There has been rapid development for masers at room temperature, the microwave analogue of lasers, where their ability to amplify the weakest electrical signals and superb frequency stability give them the potential to revolutionise medical sensors and frequency standards for GPS communication. The talk will be about a promising new material for room temperature masers; diazapentacene doped para-terphenyl (DAP). DAP holds the record as the maser with the fastest startup time, can be pumped by longer wavelengths of red light, and is more chemically stable than the first room temperature maser made from pentacene. We will also report on recent successes on the miniaturisation of organic masers, including pentacene, through optimized dielectric cavities and pumping sources. We have produced a fully operating device with the highest masing peak powers yet achieved, all while forgoing bulky magnetic fields and being able to demonstrate strong coupling for cavity quantum electrodynamics experiments at room temperature. The extensive optical and paramagnetic characterisations that will be presented will provide fertile ground for studying and finding new maser materials for quantum sensors, spintronics, and the exploration of tailored materials in optoelectronics.

* U.K. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council through grant EP/V001914/1

Publication: (1) Ng, W., Xu, X., Attwood, M., Wu, H., Meng, Z., Chen, X., Oxborrow, M., Move Aside Pentacene: Diazapentacene-Doped para-Terphenyl, a Zero-Field Room-Temperature Maser with Strong Coupling for Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics. Adv. Mater. 2023, 35, 2300441. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202300441

(2) Ng, W., Wen Y., Attwood, M., Jones, D. C., Oxborrow, M., Alford, N. M., Arroo, D., `Maser-in-a-Shoebox': a portable plug-and-play maser device at room-temperature and zero magnetic-field. arXiv, https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2310.09269

Presenters

  • Wern Ng

    Imperial College London

Authors

  • Wern Ng

    Imperial College London

  • Daan M Arroo

    Imperial College London

  • Max Attwood

    Imperial College London

  • Mark Oxborrow

    Imperial College London

  • Neil M Alford

    Imperial College London