Duncan Steel
Robert J. Hiller Professor of Engineering
Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Physics, Applied Physics, and Biophysics Program; Senior Research Scientist, Inst. of Gerontology
3117 ERB I
PH:
(734) 764-2386 or 764-4469
dst@umich.edu
Research Groups
Research Summary
Quantum Opto-Electronics: Research in our group focuses on the use of coherent optical interactions to study, control, and manipulate the quantum properties of semiconductor heterostructures. Recent research has provided for the coherent spectroscopy study of single quantum dots showing that these structures behave like artificial atoms. The strong three dimensional confinement leads to reduced interactions with the surrounding environment and hence reduced decoherence of the quantum phase of the system. Using these results we have demonstrated our ability to optically prepare the wave function of the system. Measurements, based on using phase locked short optical pulses to produce quantum interferograms of the luminescence, show our ability to modulate the population and orientation on a time scale short compared to the coherence time of the electronic excitation. Our work is moving toward examining these structures as quantum devices for application to quantum computing.
Biomolecular Laser Spectroscopy: The research program, run jointly with Professor Ari Gafni (Biological Chemistry) focuses on the development and application of advanced laser spectroscopy methodology and other biophysical techniques for the study of protein folding and dynamics. Emphasis is on understanding the nature of structural changes that occur in protein folding related diseases such as Alzheimer's, mad cow, etc. These diseases occur following post synthetic modification of protein conformation for reasons that are not understood. Our work has shown that structural changes deep in the core of a protein continue even after folding has lead to full biological activity, and that these changes are reflected in both the physical as well as the chemical behavior of the protein.
Recent Courses Taught:
- EECS 540: Applied Quantum Mechanics I
- EECS 541: Applied Quantum Mechanics II
- EECS 638: Quantum Theory of Light
- Physics 644: Topics in Quantum Optics