Speaker:Professor Craig Pryor

Professor Craig Pryor

University of Iowa

Craig Pryor

Title: Confined electron spins in semiconductors and how to model them

Abstract: The ease with which electrons may be manipulated in solids initially made such systems attractive candidates for quantum information devices. Confining an electron to an impurity or quantum dot modifies its energy spectrum, the way it interacts with light, and its magnetic moment. I will discuss how these effects can be calculated even in very complex structures, and some of the computational techniques that make such calculations possible.  As an example, I will show how confinement effects and externally applied strain can be used to control the spin state of a single electron. Finally, I will discuss methods for handling atomic scale structure and some recent developments on addressing multi-scale problems that require combining bulk and atomistic descriptions of materials.

Bio: My research focuses on the theory of electronic and optical properties of semiconductor nanostructures and impurities. I did some of the first multiband calculations of electronic states in quantum wires and dots using realistic geometries. Some of my research has involved impurity states, manipulation of electronic charge and spin through confinement, crystal polytypes, and material combinations in lattice mismatched nanostructures.