Pierre Verlot

Pierre Verlot works in the field of Optomechanics, which studies the reciprocal interactions between light and mechanical motion. After graduating his PhD at Lab- oratoire Kastler Brossel in Paris under the supervision of Pr. Dr. Antoine Heidmann, he continues his research as a post-doctoral researcher in the groups of Pr. Dr. T.J. Kip- penberg (EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland) and Dr. O. Arcizet (Institut Néel, Grenoble, France), where he develops nov- el ultra-sensitive methods adapted to the detection and control of nanomechanical motion. In 2013, he becomes Assistant Professor at the Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, where he deployes a novel research activity at Institut Lumière Matière (ILM) dedicated to the construction and study of a new nano-optomechanical platform adapted to the generalized metrological study of nanosystems. The original and efficient approach developed by Dr. Pierre Verlot provide him with state-of-the-art experience over an extended range of systems for which he has adapted and created novel solutions adapted to their ultra-sensitive detection. In the USIAS project, he will develop new tools for detecting and controlling the fundamental fluctuations in graphene-based hybrid systems.

Graphene, as a two-dimensional material with unique electronic, optical and mechanical properties, represents an outstanding platform to explore new opto-electromechanical interactions. Our project aims at developing a novel experimental approach, combining state of the art know-how in graphene science, nanomechanics, optomechanics, and quantum photonics, in order to investigate and control the (yet unexplored) quantum nano-optomechanical dynamics of graphene.

The heart of the project relies on the design and imple- mentation of novel, ultra-sensitive nano-optomechanical measurement methods that make it possible to address the graphene acousto-optical dynamics in real-time and close to the photon-counting regime. This system will enable the investigation of the fundamental links between the microscopic and macroscopic vibrational states of graphene, tackling a number of primary questions such as the identification, the origin and the control of quantum decoherence processes at the macroscopic level.