Moore Foundation Names Andrei Faraon 2023 Experimental Physics Investigator

Andrei Faraon (BS '04), the William L. Valentine Professor of Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering, has been named a 2023 Experimental Physics Investigator by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The awards, given to 21 researchers this year, including Faraon, come with a five-year $1.25 million research grant intended to advance the field of experimental physics.

Faraon's research examines the relationship between light and matter, all the way down to the interaction of single atoms and single photons. This research includes the development of solid-state quantum optics and nanophotonics that have potential applications in quantum computing and information processing.

"This award will enable my group to push the complexity of our experimental setups to the next level and thus pursue high-risk, high-reward research directions at the boundary of what is currently possible with optically addressable quantum bits in solids," Faraon says.

Previous Caltech faculty members to receive the award include Manuel Endres and David Hsieh, who were both named experimental physics investigators in 2022. Endres conducts research in quantum science and has developed new "optical tweezer" techniques that can move hundreds of individual atoms. Hsieh studies novel and exotic phases of matter in quantum materials and how to manipulate their electronic properties.

Other researchers in this year's cohort include Keji Lai from the University of Texas at Austin, who is developing a nanoscale acoustic microscope; Nathalie Vriend from the University of Colorado Boulder, who researches the physics relating to the behavior of landslides and avalanches; and Guang Bian from the University of Missouri, who studies the properties of semimetals and is developing a method for synthesizing them.

For more information about the 2023 Moore Foundation Experimental Physics Investigators, visit https://www.moore.org/initiative-strategy-detail?initiativeId=moore-investigators-in-experimental-physics-initiative