The National Science Foundation has awarded Assistant Professor Hendrik Utzat a prestigious NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, recognizing his groundbreaking work in materials for quantum optics and his commitment to mentorship and outreach.
NSF CAREER Awards support early-career faculty who demonstrate the potential to serve as academic role models in research, education, and leadership. Awardees are selected based on the strength of their scientific proposals and their track records of achievement.
Since joining the College of Chemistry in July 2022, Utzat has been at the forefront of research on single-photon emitters—materials that generate light at the quantum level, one photon at a time. These light sources could eventually enable technologies based on quantum mechanics, including highly secure optical quantum communication networks, faster information processing using photons, and ultra-sensitive optical measurements for medical applications. However, many single-photon emitters are limited by “noise”—originating from atomic vibrations or environmental fluctuations—that causes sequentially emitted photons to vary slightly in their spectrum, or color. This loss of monochromaticity degrades their quantum properties and presents a major obstacle to practical applications.
In recent years, Utzat has advanced experimental methods to study this noise and discovered a new material based on quantum dots that produces single photons with high spectral stability. These quantum dots are semiconductor particles just a few nanometers in size. Because of their small dimensions in the quantum regime, their light emission becomes quantized, allowing them to generate one photon at a time.
Artistic depiction of a ‘quantum defect’ in an atomically thin sheet of material. These defects can emit single photons on demand but are subject to noise. Utzat will develop new methods to study and eliminate this noise. Illustration by Ella Maru Studio.
“These quantum dots were the first chemically synthesized material in which noise was suppressed and the spectral brilliance of the single photons was high enough to be used in quantum optics experiments—and possibly, one day, in quantum information science. They also have the advantage of being easy and inexpensive to produce using chemistry,” explained Utzat.
Now, with the support of the NSF CAREER Award, Utzat will continue his efforts to investigate—and ultimately eliminate—noise in single-photon emitters. He and his team will develop a new spectroscopic technique that enables noise measurements on much faster timescales and with unprecedented detail. Leveraging this cutting-edge approach and custom-built equipment in his lab, they will probe the microscopic origins of residual noise in quantum dots and other emitters.
“Our quantum dots and quantum defects are promising, but not perfect. There are still some vibrations and fluctuations in the electric or magnetic fields that cause noise,” he said. “If you want truly noiseless photons, you have to eliminate these disturbances at the core—within the material itself.”
His work aims to reduce noise in quantum light sources—specifically in quantum dots and atomic defects within two-dimensional materials—making them more reliable for future technologies. The experimental tools developed with NSF support will identify the role of magnetic field fluctuations as sources of noise, which can be caused by tumbling atomic nuclei acting as tiny magnets. Ultimately, this work will guide researchers in how to eliminate such noise. A truly noiseless emitter could then be used by engineers to power optical computers far more powerful than current systems, and to build sensors that revolutionize how we observe both the macroscopic and molecular world.
Beyond his research, Utzat is committed to inspiring the next generation of scientists. As part of his CAREER Award, he plans to establish outreach programs in local high schools. His goal is to introduce both students and their parents to the possibilities of STEM careers through hands-on experiments, visits to the Berkeley campus, and mentorship.
“I believe it’s important to connect students and parents in our surrounding communities with the resources available on our campus—to inform and excite them about careers in STEM,” said Utzat. “Some high school students seem to have the impression that law, medicine, and perhaps tech are their only pathways to success. I’d love to show them that science—and chemistry in particular—is an exciting and viable field for personal growth and for making a positive impact in an area that matters to them.”