Hands-on experimental work with NV-center quantum sensing — learning the physics by building and troubleshooting the setup.
I’m part of the Pasupathy Research Group at Columbia University, supporting ongoing research in NV-center quantum sensing and measurement workflows. This has been my first real physics research experience — the kind where you learn fastest by getting your hands dirty: tracing signal chains, aligning optics, stabilizing hardware, and troubleshooting issues in real time.
My work is focused on practical setup, iteration, and reliability — helping turn experimental ideas into a stable system you can measure with. Typical tasks include:
• Assisting with setup and troubleshooting of NV-center experimental apparatus (wiring, soldering, connectors, and sensor interfacing).
• Supporting temperature stabilization and cryostat thermal-control connections for repeatable measurements.
• Helping with optical alignment and measurement workflow execution (laser/collection path checks, lab “sanity tests,” and run readiness).
• Building confidence in the physics by connecting each knob in the setup to what it changes in the signal.
Working in an active experimental environment has sharpened both my intuition and my engineering habits: how to diagnose problems systematically, document changes, and keep a complex setup reproducible over time.
On the physics side, I’m building familiarity with the NV-center toolkit (optical initialization and readout, microwave control, and ODMR-style measurement logic), and how these map to real hardware constraints.
I’m interested in simulation and computation for quantum systems — but I don’t want that to live in a vacuum. This experience helps me think like a quantum engineer: understanding experiments deeply enough to build better models, better software tools, and better measurement workflows.