Research Corporation grant to Shannon O’Leary

Shannon O’Leary, Assistant Professor of Physics, has received a $35,000 Cottrell College Science Award from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA). Her project, “Understanding Noise from Quantum Interference for a Novel Atomic Magnetometer,” will investigate an interaction between light and matter that is highly sensitive to magnetic field. This interaction is laser intensity noise derived from quantum interference in an atomic vapor. With two-years of Research Corporation support, Dr. O’Leary and her undergraduate student researchers will develop this noise-based spectroscopic technique and use it to build a novel atomic magnetometer prototype. (May 2012)