A graduate student in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at The University of New Mexico has received a fellowship from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Student Research program, according to a June 3 announcement.
Amilcar Jeronimo Perez, a Ph.D. student focused on experimental quantum optics, was selected for the competitive fellowship that supports doctoral research at a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory. Perez will spend the next year at Oak Ridge National Laboratory working on a project titled “Synthesis and Spectroscopic Measurements of Stoichiometric Rare-Earth Crystals.”
The fellowship allows Perez to collaborate with scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and access specialized equipment not available at UNM. “It allows me to gain experience working with scientists from a national lab, as well as have access to technology not immediately available here at UNM,” Perez said. “With this fellowship I also have the opportunity to network and collaborate with students and scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The DOE recognizes that the proposed project has the potential to advance future research in this area.”
Perez’s research focuses on precision measurement and spectroscopy using solid-state color centers and rare-earth crystals, which could contribute to advances in quantum sensing, quantum memory systems, and particle physics searches. He will work alongside researcher Josh Damron designing, synthesizing, and studying new rare-earth crystals based on trivalent europium ions (Eu3+). “My current research at UNM focuses on quantum sensing with nitrogen vacancy centers in diamond,” Perez explained. He added that extending these methods to rare-earth crystals may achieve better sensitivity limits than existing techniques.
Perez said improvements in precision measurement could lead to scientific discoveries: “A very sensitive magnetometer can be used to detect or image extremely small signals, such as that from the human brain or from new particles not predicted by the standard model of particle physics,” he said.
Previous recipients from UNM’s Department of Physics and Astronomy include Aidan Grummer and Neil McFadden (2018), Alexandre Mills (2020), Kylar Greene (2023), Josef Sorenson, and Andrew Gentry (2024). For students considering physics research careers, Perez encouraged them: “I would say to follow your scientific curiosity and understand what matters the most to you… if you have the will and motivation to do the work, then essentially everything is possible!”
The University of New Mexico enrolled more than 24,000 students across its main and branch campuses in spring 2023; it boasts over 200,000 alumni worldwide including fellows of national academies; its campus features Pueblo Revival architecture; it serves as a cultural resource through libraries, museums, galleries; its athletics program competes in Division I Mountain West Conference; it is ranked among top public schools nationally, according to the official website.
