Tim Thomay

PhD

Tim Thomay.

Tim Thomay

PhD

Tim Thomay

PhD

Assistant Professor
Department of Physics
College of Arts and Sciences

Specialties

Photonics, Ultrafast Optics, Single Photon emitters

Education

  • B.S. (equivalent): University of Vienna, Austria and CBPF Rio de Janeiro, Brasil - 2003
  • Diploma in Physics (M.S. equivalent): University of Konstanz, Germany - 2006
  • Dr. rer. Nat. (PhD equivalent) : University of Konstanz, Germany - 2010
  • PostDoc: NIST, Gaithersburg, MD, USA – 2015

Research Area

Condensed Matter Experiment

Research Interests

Low photon number quantum optics

New concepts are needed for the Quantum Internet of the future. Current quantum optical communications networks rely on single or heralded photon sources. While this works for a proof of concept, for any realistic rate of Quantum key exchange the necessary data rates are not achievable. This is why I am interested to use low photon number photon states to overcome this limitation. We are using novel low-dimensional semiconductors, such as a monolayer of gradient alloy TMDs (Transition metal dichalcogenides) or magnetically doped colloidal nanoplates that show the possibility of creating entangled and multi-photon states.

Fiber based Quantum Communication

It is expected that land based Quantum Networks will be the backbone of any high-security communication platform. However coupling single or heralded photons into industry standard optical fibers remains a challenge. Our group aims to explore novel ways of directly incorporating quantum optical sources into optical fibers.

Ultrafast spectroscopy

The ultrafast dynamics of low-dimensional semiconductors is a crucial factor in understanding the underlying physics of the carrier dynamics. I am interested in the carrier dynamics of novel low-dimensional semiconductor structures in particular under influence of external fields.

Plasmonic Nanosensors

Plasmonic nanosensors have gained much interest in the last decade for high sensitivity sensing of biological markers, chemical material analysis, or optical parameters of dielectrics and metamaterials. However, there is a fundamental limitation of plasmonics inherent due to the finite resistance of the used metal nanostructures. I am interested in using this limitation to my advantage. We could investigate the ultrafast hot carrier dynamics of metal nanograting and use it for ultrafast sensing of refractive index changes.

Publications

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