Platform
Diamond, optical fibres, magnetic films and nanomechanical structures.
← All research themes
03 · Hybrid Quantum Systems
Photons, Magnons and Phonons
Collective excitations can act as a tunable bridge between quantum systems that otherwise do not naturally communicate.
The question
What becomes visible when the probe is part of the system?
Magnons carry collective spin motion; phonons carry motion through a crystal. We study both as measurable physical systems and as possible links between microwave, optical and solid-state quantum platforms.
How we approach it
Platform, measurement, target
Measurement
Brillouin spectroscopy, heterodyne detection, photon counting and local magnetic imaging.
Scientific target
Coherent transport, non-equilibrium statistics and microwave-to-optical transduction.
Current directions
Questions in motion
These project areas evolve as experiments and collaborations develop.
Travelling phonon links
Controlling high-frequency sound in low-loss structures for distributed quantum technologies.
Magnons in real space
Resolving interference, propagation and nonlinear dynamics with diamond magnetic microscopy.
Quantum-aware receivers
Combining heterodyne and photon-counting measurements to access phase and statistics together.
Collaborating withMichael Vanner · Imperial College London
Selected reading
Related publications
Physical Review Letters · 2025
Enhanced Laser Cooling of a Mechanical Resonator via Zero-Photon Detection
E. A. Cryer-Jenkins, K. D. Major, J. Clarke, et al., including A. K. C. Tan
Read paper ↗Physical Review A · 2025Theoretical Framework for Enhancing or Enabling Cooling of a Mechanical Resonator via the anti-Stokes or Stokes Interaction and Zero-Photon Detection
J. Clarke, E. A. Cryer-Jenkins, A. K. Gupta, et al., including A. K. C. Tan
Read paper ↗APL Photonics · 2025Brillouin–Mandelstam Scattering in Telecommunications Optical Fiber at Millikelvin Temperatures
E. A. Cryer-Jenkins, A. C. Leung, H. Rathee, A. K. C. Tan, K. D. Major & M. R. Vanner
Read paper ↗ACS Applied Electronic Materials · 2024Evidencing Dissipation Dilution in Large-Scale Arrays of Single-Layer WSe₂ Mechanical Resonators
M. R. Pitts, M. S. G. Feuer, A. K. C. Tan, et al.
Read paper ↗Work with us