Research Interests
I am currently working in a collaboration between the quantum optics lab at William & Mary and the accelerator division of Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility to build a quantum-based atomic sensor for magnetic fields generated by an electron beam. My work primarily consists of designing a tabletop electron beamline to detect using our proposed atom-based electromagnetic field sensor, and applying quantum enhancement to improve the sensitivity of magnetic field measurements.
Magnetic Field Electron Beam Tracker
Biography
Nicolas DeStefano is a PhD student in physics at William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA and holds a BSc in physics from Old Dominion University. He conducts research under the Novikova quantum sensing group to develop sensitive electromagnetic field detectors through coherent interactions between atoms and light. His work on quantum-based detectors earned recognition through fellowships from the DoE Office of Science Graduate Student Research and Virginia Space Grant Consortium, as well as presentation awards from various conferences. His work connects multiple disciplines of physics -- including nuclear and plasma physics -- to provide sensitive and non-interacting detectors for highly-constrained experiments. Nicolas's future work utilizes quantum light to improve detector sensitivity beyond the classical limit.