CREOL Fall Colloquium: Maxim Shcherbakov, University of California, Irvine
2025-09-12 11:00 - 12:00 | Virtual and CREOL: CROL-103
Title: Quantum Optics and Confinement Control in Engineered Photonic Nanomaterials

Abstract: Naturally abundant materials--such as silicon, metals, and van der Waals (vdW) materials--exhibit excellent optical properties, making them well-suited for use in both classical and quantum photonic integrated circuits. By sculpting these materials under extreme conditions, including high pressure, mechanical strain, and intense light fields, one can unlock vast opportunities for on-demand engineering of their photonic properties.

In the first part of the talk, we will employ thermomechanical processing under carefully controlled pressures and temperatures, allowing for record-rate manipulation of 1D and 2D vdW materials, as well as modulation of phonon-polariton dispersion by more than 10% through stoichiometric control. We will proceed to show that engineered photonic integrated circuits enable multimodal addressing of tightly spaced trapped-ion chains. Finally, we will demonstrate that bright single-photon sources can be realized through the use of tailored nanophotonic resonators and atomic-scale material design. Such extreme-engineered materials open new frontiers in nanophotonics, offering powerful modalities for creating optoelectronic devices with tunable properties for telecommunications and quantum information technologies.

About the Speaker: Dr. Maxim R. Shcherbakov is an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Irvine, with joint appointments in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Materials Science and Engineering. His research is at the intersection of quantum photonics, nonlinear optics, and nanostructures, with a particular focus on quantum-engineered materials for next-generation optical technologies. Before joining UCI, Dr. Shcherbakov was a postdoctoral associate at Cornell University, following his Ph.D. in Physics from Lomonosov Moscow State University. His work has been recognized with major honors, including the NSF CAREER Award, the DARPA Young Faculty Award and Director's Award, and a Blavatnik Postdoctoral Finalist distinction. He has authored over 60 peer-reviewed publications and leads multiple nationally and internationally funded research efforts in quantum and nonlinear optics.

Virtual Location URL: https://ucf.zoom.us/j/93442937025?from=addon
