"The development of techniques to cool and trap atoms with laser light has greatly changed atomic physics research. Increasingly, applications emerge, with cold charged particle beams as a prime example."

Edgar Vredenbregt is an associate professor with the research group Coherence and Quantum Technology at the TU/e department of Applied Physics. His research focuses on the use of atom trapping for quantum information research and to create a new class of charged particle sources, featuring ultracold electrons (10K) and ions (1mK). Both offer a new route toward high brightness by virtue of a high angular intensity. Applications of the ultracold sources are ultrafast electron diffraction and focused-ion beam instrumentation.

Ultracold ions can be extracted from a beam of laser-cooled atoms using photo-ionization, allowing for bright ion beams with a very small longitudinal energy spread (200 meV demonstrated). As a result Laser Cooled Focused Ion Beams provide a next-generation tool for observing, modifying and repairing silicon wafers, enabling milling on the 1 nanometer scale.

Rydberg atoms can fill the role of qubits with strong mutual interactions that can be harnessed to create quantum gates. A structured gas of Rydberg atoms is created by patterned laser-excitation of a trapped atomic cloud. Spectroscopy reveals effects of long-range interactions such as blockade and facilitation phenomena.

Edgar Vredenbregt studied Applied Physics at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e, the Netherlands) where he received his MSc in 1986. In 1990, he obtained his PhD at TU/e in Atomic and Molecular Physics under supervision of professor Herman Beijerinck. From 1991 until 1993, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the QEX group of professor Harold Metcalf at the State University of New York at Stony Brook (USA). In 1993, he returned to TU/e to become a postdoctoral researcher in the development of intensified atomic beams. From 1995-2000, he was a fellow of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) at TU/e, to perform research on ultra-cold collisions and intensified atomic beams. In 1998, he was a visiting research scientist with the laser cooling and trapping group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg (USA). In 2000, Edgar Vredenbregt was appointed assistant professor at TU/e and in 2016 he was promoted to associate professor with the research group Coherence and Quantum Technology, department of Applied Physics.