Quantum Engineering Seminar

Israel Hernandez. Illinois Tech

Abstract: One of the key challenges in dark matter detection lies in developing highly sensitive detectors capable of identifying low-energy depositions resulting from interactions between light dark matter and target materials. In this context, materials that support low-energy phonon excitations hold significant promise. Building on this, we investigate energy transport in such novel materials using G4CMP simulations. This work presents the physical formalism for incorporating these materials into the G4CMP framework, along with experimental validation of key simulation parameters. Furthermore, we evaluate the performance of various phonon-based detector devices employing these materials, focusing on their readout schemes, energy threshold limits, and potential applications in qubit-based detector technologies for dark matter searches. Finally, we outline the current state of qubit operation technologies and present the principal research directions pursued by our group at Fermilab.

• Modeling athermal phonons in novel materials using the G4CMP simulation toolkit – ScienceDirect
• Estimating the energy threshold of phonon-mediated superconducting qubit detectors operated in an energy-relaxation sensing scheme | Phys. Rev. D

Bio: Israel Hernandez completed his undergraduate education at the University of Guanajuato, where he studied Theoretical Physics. His favorite subfields of physics are theoretical frameworks and their experimental applications. He believes that understanding the nature of the world is not enough—we must also transform it through the development of technology. He worked on Supersymmetry models for calculating topological invariants. Later, he contributed to the development of MKID technology for the astrophysics community at Fermilab. Israel is currently in the final year of his doctoral program at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), where his dissertation focuses on understanding the response of detectors by modeling the phonon response of novel materials used in dark matter searches. He has successfully modeled these new materials, which have been integrated into G4CMP. Israel is now exploring the validation of these simulations using qubit devices technology. This work is being carried out in collaboration with IIT and the Quantum Science Center at Fermilab.

Join us in Labriola 202 @ 9:00 AM MT or join via Zoom https://mines.zoom.us/s/97076035397