The CIQC graduate student exchange program allowed to me to visit and work with the ultracold atom labs of David Welds’ group at UCSB. During my time there I spent one week with the Strontium optical lattice experiment; I greatly enjoyed learning about new perspectives on optical lattice experiments from a Floquet and quasicrystal point of view. In addition, I got the chance to learn in depth from their optics setups, ultra-high vacuum setups, electronics, experimental control, analysis, and theory simulations. The experience of working with a team of researchers directly for multiple days in a row is, for me, the key to have fruitful discussions, learn productively from these partners and dive into their research.

Thanks to the funding from CIQC I was able to spend another week working with the potassium (K) tweezer team as well. Given that I’m currently also working on building a K (&Rb) ultracold atom experiment that has many similarities, I was excited to see their setup, learn about the experimental sequence, find inspiration from their choices of optical systems, discuss problems that they encounter and more. I was even able to start the work to get their painted optical-dipole trap up and running and I shared problems, ideas, and thoughts about our K cooling scheme.

For me, this visit has been extremely fruitful - I feel that I’ve gotten a great boost to my academic career in learning great amounts of theoretical and in-depth experimental knowledge that I apply in my own work; I’ve established fruitful connections with other researchers for future collaborations to advance the field of quantum information; Additionally, the fact that my knowledge has already had a helpful impact on the research efforts of this CIQC partner gives me satisfaction. I greatly recommend this exchange program!