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Peter Day

Senior Research Scientist

About

Bio

Peter Day is a Microdevice Engineer at JPL and holds a visiting associate position at Caltech. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley, and a PhD in Physics from Caltech where he studied phase transitions in thin films. He received an Alexander von Humbolt fellowship with which he investigated helium atom scattering from surfaces at the Max Plank Institute for Fluid Dynamics in Goettingen, Germany. He began at JPL preparing critical phenomena experiments for flight aboard the space shuttle and international space station. For the last 12 years he has worked at the Microdevices Lab at JPL developing new detector and amplifier technologies.

Education

  • Undergraduate Education: University of California, Berkeley, B.A., Physics / B.A. English (1988)
  • Graduate Education: California Institute of Technology, Ph.D. Physics, (1993)

Research Interests

Superconducting photon detectors and amplifiers, Critical phenomena, low-noise measurement techniques

Experience

Professional Experience

  • Senior Research Scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (2014-present)
  • Principle Engineering Staff, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (2009–present)
  • Visiting Associate, California Institute of Technology (2005–present)
  • Senior Engineering Staff, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (2003–2009)
  • Technical Staff, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (1996–2003)
  • Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for fluid dynamics, Goettingen, Germany (1995-1996)

Achievements

Awards & Recognitions

Publications

  1. Eom, B., Day, P., LeDuc, H. & Zmuidzinas, J. A wideband, low-noise superconducting amplifier with high dynamic range. Nature Physics 8, 623–627 (2012).
  2. Day, P., Leduc, H., Mazin, B., Vayonakis, A. & Zmuidzinas, J. A broadband superconducting detector suitable for use in large arrays. Nature 425, 817–821 (2003).
  3. Leduc, H. G., Bumble, B., Day, P. K., Eom, B. H., Gao, J., Golwala, S., Mazin, B. A., McHugh, S., Merrill, A., Moore, D. C., Noroozian, O., Turner, A. D. & Zmuidzinas, J. Titanium nitride films for ultrasensitive microresonator detectors. App. Phys. Lett. 97, 102509 (Sept. 2010).
  4. Kumar, S., Gao, J., Zmuidzinas, J., Mazin, B. A., Leduc, H. G. & Day, P. K. Temperature dependence of the frequency and noise of superconducting coplanar waveguide resonators. Applied Physics Letters 92, 123503 (2008).
  5. Gao, J., Daal, M., Vayonakis, A., Kumar, S., Zmuidzinas, J., Sadoulet, B., Mazin, B. A., Day, P. K. & Leduc, H. G. Experimental evidence for a surface distribution of two-level systems in superconducting lithographed microwave resonators. Applied Physics Letters 92, 152505 (Apr. 2008).
  6. Gao, J., Daal, M., Martinis, J. M., Vayonakis, A., Zmuidzinas, J., Sadoulet, B., Mazin, B. A., Day, P. K. & Leduc, H. G. A semiempirical model for two-level system noise in superconducting microresonators. Applied Physics Letters 92, 212504 (May 2008).
  7. Moore, D., Golwala, S., Bumble, B., Cornell, B., Day, P., LeDuc, H. & Zmuidzinas, J. Position and energy-resolved particle detection using phonon-mediated microwave kinetic inductance detectors. Applied Physics Letters 100, 232601–232601 (2012).
  8. Maloney, P., Czakon, N., Day, P., Downes, T., Duan, R., Gao, J., Glenn, J., Golwala, S., Hollister, M., LeDuc, H., et al., MUSIC for sub/millimeter astrophysics, in SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation: Observational Frontiers of Astronomy for the New Decade (2010), 77410F–77410F.
  9. Day, P. K., LeDuc, H. G., Lee, R. A. M., Dowell, C. D. & Zmuidzinas, J., Distributed Antenna-coupled transition edge sensors, in Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Conference Series 6275 (July 2006). doi:10.1117/12.672690.
  10. Day, P., Moeur, W., McCready, S., Sergatskov, D., Liu, F.-C. & Duncan, R. Breakdown of Fouriers Law near the Super-fluid Transition in 4He. Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 2472 (1998).