6th NTT-BRL School
The sixth NTT Basic Research Laboratories (BRL) School
was held on November 24-26, 2013 at our NTT Atsugi R&D Center. The
aim of the school was to foster young researchers in the nano and quantum
science fields and to promote the international visibility of NTT BRL.
This year the theme of the school was "Nano and Quantum Science: Driving
Tomorrow’s Technology", closely related to ongoing research within
NTT BRL. Prestigious professors and researchers were invited as the school
lecturers. We accepted thirty-five students, mainly Ph. D students, from
fourteen countries.
On the first day, Prof. John Clarke (University of California,
Berkeley, U.S.A.) presented lectures entitled "Theory, practice and
applications of Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices (SQUIDs)".
He also gave lectures on the second day that covered applications ranging
from cosmology to medicine using SQUID femtoscience. On the afternoon of
the first day, after the director of NTT BRL, Dr. Tetsuomi Sogawa, provided
an introduction of NTT Laboratories, while the three senior distinguished
researchers of NTT BRL gave lectures on "Micro/nanomechanical systems
using compound semiconductor heterostructures" by Dr. Hiroshi Yamaguchi,
"Topologically protected quantum effects in solid state" by Dr.
Koji Muraki, and "Nanophotonics toward the smallest energy consumption"
by Dr. Masaya Notomi. On the second and third day, Prof. Oliver Schmidt
(Institute Director, IFW Dresden, Germany) gave two lectures entitled "Quantum
dots: From growth to quantum device" and "Shaping nanomembranes
into a new nanoworld". After the lecture of the second day, we conducted
a lab tour to show our research facilities and introduce recent research
activities at NTT BRL. Then we went on an excursion to Mt. Ohyama belonging
to Tanzawa mountain range which is close to the NTT Atsugi R&D Center.
The participants enjoyed foliage that was lighting up and tofu dishes at
a Japanese traditional restaurant. On the third day, Prof. Jonathan Finley
(Walter Schottky Institute, Germany) gave a lecture on "Optically
probing charge and spin dynamics in single and coupled quantum dots".
After the lecture, all participants attended ISNTT (an international conference
on nanoscale transport and technology) hosted by NTT BRL. As part of this,
the students gave poster presentations regarding their university research.
All students, lecturers, and NTT BRL researchers had excellent time exchanging
information on current research topics in various fields. In the joint
party of BRL School and ISNTT, "Best Poster Prizes" were awarded
to three students who gave noteworthy poster presentations. The students
got the opportunity to discuss high-quality research and build human network
and friendships within this school. NTT BRL will continue to provide these
occasions to support young researchers and to establish research collaborations
in the fields of nano and quantum science.
