Sounak Mukherjee

I'm


About Me

I am a 4th year graduate student at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Princeton University. I am working on color centers in diamond for quantum networks, supervised by Prof. Nathalie de Leon. My research interest lies in optics and spectroscopy as a means to understand quantum systems such as atom-like defects in diamond. I am currently exploring new defects in diamond which are promising candidates for quantum technologies.


I completed BS-MS from the Department of Physical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata, India. As a part of my MS thesis under the guidance of Prof. Nirmalya Ghosh, I investigated the orbital Hall effect of light along with polarization studies.

Education

Princeton University

January 2021 - present

PhD, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Princeton University

January 2021 - November 2022

MA, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata

August 2015 - July 2020

BS-MS Dual Degree, Major in Physical Sciences, Minor in Mathematical Sciences

South Point High School, Kolkata

April 2002 - May 2015

Publications

  1. S. Mukherjee, Z.-H. Zhang, D. G. Oblinsky, M. O. de Vries, B. C. Johnson, B. C. Gibson, E. L. H. Mayes, A. M. Edmonds, N. Palmer, M. L. Markham, Á. Gali, G. Thiering, A. Dalis, T. Dumm, G. D. Scholes, A. Stacey, P. Reineck, and N. P. de Leon, A telecom O-band emitter in diamond, Nano Lett. 23, 7, 2557–2562 (2023).
  2. Athira B. S., M. Pal, S. Mukherjee, N. Modak, S. Saha, A. K. Singh, S. D. Gupta, D. Nandy, and N. Ghosh, Towards the development of new generation spin-orbit photonic techniques, J. Opt. 24, 054006 (2022).
  3. Athira B. S., S. Mukherjee, A. Laha, K. Bar, D. Nandy, and N. Ghosh, Experimental observation of the orbital Hall effect of light through pure orbit–orbit interaction for randomly and radially polarized vortex beams, J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 38, 2180-2186 (2021).
  4. Athira B. S., M. Pal, S. Mukherjee, J. Mishra, D. Nandy, and N. Ghosh, Single-shot measurement of the space-varying polarization state of light through interferometric quantification of the geometric phase, Phys. Rev. A 101, 013836 (2020).

Research



New Defects in Diamond

My current research interest is to use photoluminescence spectroscopy techniques to look at new color centers in diamond as potential candidates for quantum network and sensing applications

Electron Spin Resonance

We developed a home-built pulsed electron spin resonance (ESR) setup for investigating coherence properties of new defects at cryogenic to room temperatures

Telecom O-band Emitter in Diamond

Recently, we reported a new silicon-related defect in diamond that emits in the telecom O-band

Silicon Vacancy

I am also investigating single neutron silicon vacancy centers (SiV0) in diamond with magneto-optic spectrosocopy for quantum network applications


Achievements

  • Best oral presentation award at the UK Diamond Research Conference (De Beers), University of Warwick, UK (2023)
  • Best poster award in Group A, Physical Sciences, International Poster Presentation Competition 2020 (online)
  • Gold medal for best academic performance — overall highest GPA in the 5-year BS-MS Dual Degree, IISER Kolkata, India (2020)
  • Gold medal for departmental topper — highest CGPA in the Department of Physical Sciences, IISER Kolkata, India (2020)
  • Best poster award, Discussion Meeting on Spectroscopy, Photonics and Dynamics, IISER Kolkata, India (2020)
  • Best poster award, Student Conference on Optics and Photonics, PRL, Ahmedabad, India (2019)
  • Selected as a young scientist to attend the 69th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting (Physics), Germany (2019)
  • OSA Foundation Grant for attending the Siegman International Summer School on Lasers (2019)
  • Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst - Working Internships in Science and Engineering (DAAD-WISE) scholarship (2018)
  • 1st Prize for poster presentation, Asian Science Camp 2016, IISc, Bengaluru, India (2016)
  • National Initiative on Undergraduate Science (NIUS, Physics) fellow, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), TIFR, Mumbai, India (2016)
  • C.N.R. Rao Education Foundation Prize for securing the highest marks in 1st semester at IISER Kolkata, India (2015)
  • INSPIRE Fellowship, Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India (2015-2020)

Contact

Location:

Engineering Quadrangle
41 Olden Street
Princeton, NJ 08544