Dr. Mark Baker

Chief Investigator, Research Fellow

Dr Mark Baker, from Brisbane, undertook his BSc at UQ, followed by his Honours year at UWA in Perth. He returned to Brisbane in 2001 where he completed a PhD at Griffith University, working on a beamline atom lithography system with metastable states of neon and argon. In 2006 Dr Baker started a postdoc at IESL-FORTH in Heraklion, Greece on the island of Crete. There he worked on a new Bose-Einstein condensation experiment to investigate time-averaged adiabatic potentials (TAAP) using RF dressed states in a magnetic trap (www.bec.gr). In 2010 he returned to Brisbane to work in the experimental BEC group at UQ. 

2019

Superfluid Dumbbell
Quantitative Acoustic Models for Superfluid Circuits
Gauthier Guillaume et al, 2019
Physical Review Letters, 123, 26

We experimentally realize a highly tunable superfluid oscillator circuit in a quantum gas of ultracold atoms and develop and verify a simple lumped-element description of this circuit.
Giant vortex clusters in a two-dimensional quantum fluid
Gauthier Guillaume et al, 2019
Science, 364, 6447, pp. 1264-1267

Adding energy to a system through transient stirring usually leads to more disorder. In contrast, point-like vortices in a bounded two-dimensional fluid are predicted to reorder above a certain energy, forming persistent vortex clusters.

2018

Phase and micromotion of Bose-Einstein condensates in a time-averaged ring trap
Bell Thomas A. et al, 2018
Physical Review A, 98, 1

Rapidly scanning magnetic and optical dipole traps have been widely utilized to form time-averaged potentials for ultracold quantum gas experiments.

2017

Roadmap on structured light
Rubinsztein-Dunlop Halina et al, 2017
Journal of Optics, 19, 1, pp. 13001

Structured light refers to the generation and application of custom light fields. As the tools and technology to create and detect structured light have evolved, steadily the applications have begun to emerge.

2016

Configurable microscopic optical potentials for Bose-Einstein condensates using a digital-micromirror device
Gauthier Guillaume et al, 2016
Optica, 10, 3, pp. 1136-1143

The development of novel trapping potentials for degenerate quantum gases has been an important factor driving experimental progress in the field. The introduction of spatial light modulators (SLMs) into quantum gas laboratories means that a range of configurable geometries are now possible.
Bose-Einstein condensation in large time-averaged optical ring potentials
Bell T A et al, 2016
New Journal of Physics

Interferometric measurements with matter waves are established techniques for sensitive gravimetry, rotation sensing, and measurement of surface interactions, but compact interferometers will require techniques based on trapped geometries.

2014

Note: High turn density magnetic coils with improved low pressure water cooling for use in atom optics
McKay Parry Nicholas et al, 2014
Review of Scientific Instruments, 85, 8, pp. 86103

We describe a magnetic coil design utilizing concentrically wound electro-magnetic insulating (EMI) foil (25.4 μm Kapton backing and 127 μm thick layers). The magnetic coils are easily configurable for differentcoil sizes, while providing large surfaces for low-pressure (0.12 bar) water cooling.

ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems (EQUS) (2011–2022)

Abstract: The future of technology lies in controlling the quantum world. The ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems (EQuS) will deliver the building blocks of future quantum technologies and, critically, ensure Australian primacy in this endeavour. Three strategic research programs will target Quantum Measurement and Control; Synthetic Quantum Systems and Simulation; and Quantum-Enabled Sensors and Metrology.

ARC Discovery Projects: Spin vortex dynamics in a ferromagnetic superfluid (2020-2023)

Magnetic spin vortices are stable whirlpool-like objects that can spontaneously form when magnetic materials are rapidly cooled. This project aims to understand and manipulate spin vortices in a magnetic quantum fluid, one of the cleanest and most controllable magnetic systems. The significance is that spin vortices are potentially fundamental elements of future electronic technologies for advanced storage and logic. The expected outcomes are the ability to create spin vortices on demand, and the characterisation of their suitability for future applications.