Physics Professor Yu Selected for 2021 Air Force Research Lab Summer Faculty Fellowship
Liping Yu, an assistant professor of physics at the University of Maine, has been selected as a fellow for the 2021 U.S. Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) Summer Faculty Fellowship program (SFFP).
The program offers hands-on exposure to Air Force research challenges through 8- to 12-week research residencies at participating Air Force research facilities for full-time science, mathematics and engineering faculty at U.S. colleges and universities, according to the AFRL-SFFP website.
As part of this program, Yu will conduct theoretical and computational research on the single-photon emission phenomena observed in 2D quantum materials like tungsten diselenide (WSe2).
“Results from this research will advance the development of new 2D materials as on-chip integrated single-photon sources, based on which the quantum information technologies may lead to the establishment of a quantum network where photonic qubits are created and manipulated on demand for computational applications and the secure transmission of data,” Yu says.
The SFFP will also support Michael Brady Butler, a Ph.D. student in Yu’s group, over the summer, working with Yu and AFRL adviser Ruth Pachter on the project.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Yu will start this position remotely from UMaine in May, and then transition to the AFRL at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. There, he will collaborate with AFRL researchers and use the lab’s computational facilities.
“I am grateful to have this opportunity to conduct research in the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory,” Yu says.
Contact: Marcus Wolf, 207.581.3721; marcus.wolf@maine.edu