Creating and shaping light at single photon level

The ability to control light at the single photon level is essential for fully harnessing the power of quantum information theory, and precision measurements. In this thesis, we study two phenomena which can help us to create, and shape light at the smallest scale. In the first part of the thesis, we explore deterministic single photon subtraction based upon single photon Raman interaction of a single three-level Λ-type quantum emitter in a bi-modal cavity or coupled with a chiral waveguide. We study the effect of photon subtraction from different types of optical inputs –- continuous-wave or pulsed coherent states and Fock states, and dependence of the fidelity of subtraction upon key system parameters. We also discuss the suitability and prospects of using different emitter-waveguide systems reported in literature to successfully extract a single photon from an optical input. We find that a quantum dot coupled with a photonic crystal waveguide with high group index could subtract photons with fidelity close to unity. Moreover, we explore how such a SPRINT-based single photon subtraction process can be used to create non-Gaussian states with negative values of Wigner distribution, and negative conditional entropies. Such states can be used as quantum resources in various fields of quantum information theory. Finally, as an interesting example, we also discuss how this mechanism can also be used to create non-classical Fock states of arbitrary photon number. In the second part of this thesis, we study how to shape the emission from a single solid-state quantum emitter, in particular an NV⁻ center in diamond, using two dimensional patterns with sub-wavelength features. We propose a pattern etched on the surface of a diamond sample that enhances the NV's emission in a particular direction, and maximizes coupling with a waveguide substantially far away from the diamond-air interface. Our proposed structure was designed using the adjoint optimization technique, which significantly reduces the amount of computational resources compared to brute-force methods to design an optical element with desired properties. Our structure exhibits a higher directionality of emission compared to other nanophotonic structures reported in the literature -- solid immersion lenses, nanopillars, and bull's eye structures. Finally, we also discuss in details the steps pertaining to setting up a confocal microscope in our laboratory for imaging NV centers, and characterizing our proposed device

DEPOSITIONAL HISTORY AND RESERVOIR CHARACTERISTICS OF STRUCTURALLY CONFINED FOREDEEP TURBIDITES, NORTHERN CHICONTEPEC BASIN, MEXICO.

Turbidite deposits within structurally confined and tectonically active basins often exhibit complex sediment distribution patterns and facies relationships. In this dissertation, I concentrate on unraveling the deepwater depositional history of the Chicontepec foreland basin followed by characterizing the turbidite reservoirs resulting from the complex depositional process and later affected by extensive diagenesis and volcanic emplacement. I augment this study with a seismic geomorphologic analysis of turbidites of a tectonically dynamic salt minibasin in the Gulf of Mexico and establish its relationship with sequence stratigraphy and sea level changes.One of the key contributions of this dissertation is the reconstruction of the geologic history of the complex north Chicontepec basin turbidites, which represent one of the most important hydrocarbon plays in Mexico. I integrated seismic geomorphology, outcrop information, well log and core interpretation and tied with geologic time and tectonic history to unravel the progressive changes in depositional patterns and faciesassociations. The Chicontepec reservoir interval is subdivided into stratigraphic units equivalent to global 3rd order sequences. Based on those subdivisions, I propose a new depositional history model for the northern Chicontepec basin which is comprised of two major flow components from different directions and their variable interactions through geologic time with changes in basin floor geometry. The changes in depositional pattern are broadly correlated with the changes in reservoir quality.Chicontepec turbidites are characterized by unique rock types containingabundant carbonate rock fragments with quartz, feldspar and clay. Chicontepec deposition was followed by complex diagenetic processes inducing extensive cementation resulting in the low porosity, low permeability Chicontepec Sandstone. A key aspect of this dissertation is to illustrate a simple and effective methodology to characterize the complex Chicontepec reservoir interval and outline prospective areas forfurther hydrocarbon exploration. Correlating the stratigraphic units to producing and nonproducing intervals provided the link between rock properties and different Chicontepec reservoir zones. These links provide the means to map the potential reservoir zones from prestack inversion-driven rock property volumes.I also evaluate the potential effect of volcanic bodies on the adjacent Chicontepec reservoir intervals. Volcanic bodies are an integral part of Chicontepec petroleum system. I study their interactions with the Chicontepec sediments from the outcrop and well log patterns in a seismic geomorphologic framework. I propose a dual porosity model andmap the potential zones within the Chicontepec Formation with predicted enhanced permeability by the influence of shallow volcanic bodies

Performance Studies of Bulk Micromegas of Different Design Parameters

The present work involves the comparison of various bulk Micromegas detectors having different design parameters. Six detectors with amplification gaps of $64,~128,~192,~220 ~\mu\mathrm{m}$ and mesh hole pitch of $63,~78 ~\mu\mathrm{m}$ were tested at room temperature and normal gas pressure. Two setups were built to evaluate the effect of the variation of the amplification gap and mesh hole pitch on different detector characteristics. The gain, energy resolution and electron transmission of these Micromegas detectors were measured in Argon-Isobutane (90:10) gas mixture while the measurements of the ion backflow were carried out in P10 gas. These measured characteristics have been compared in detail to the numerical simulations using the Garfield framework that combines packages such as neBEM, Magboltz and Heed.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1605.0289