A career ....for a while....
| 1991 - 1995 | Full time PhD student, experimental physics, | Open University Laser Spectroscopy Group |
| 1995 - 1997 1997 - 1999 1999 - 2001 |
Postdoctoral researcher " " University lecturer |
Open University Oxford University Sussex University |
| 2001 - 2003 | Postdoctoral researcher | Oxford University |
| 2006 - 2009 | Teaching fellow MSc in Photon Science |
Manchester University |
| 2009 - 2016 | Research Associate | Durham University |
| 2017 onwards | Retired amateur | Whalley Range, Mcr. |
- My experimental research was in the field of laser cooling and trapping of atoms and Bose-Einstein condensation.
- We studied the quantum mechanical properties of atoms in an ultracold regime where such properties can be better observed: at a temperature of order one millionth of a degree above absolute zero.
- My final project at Durham,
under Prof Simon Cornish, aimed to make exotic molecules (CsYb) by fusing cold caesium and cold ytterbium atoms. The hope is then to hold the molecules in an optical lattice (an eggbox made of laser light) for quantum information processing.
- Many skills were needed and acquired, including:
- Advanced physics theory
- Optics and lasers of all kinds
- Electronics
- Computer programming
- Mechanical engineering
- Vacuum design
Selected publications
- 'Parameters for polarisation gradients in three-dimensional standing waves', S.A.Hopkins and A.V.Durrant, Phys.Rev.A, 56 , 4012, (1997).
- 'Zeeman-coherence-induced transparency and gain without inversion in laser-cooled rubidium', A.V.Durrant, H.X.Chen, S.A.Hopkins and J.A.Vaccaro, Opt. Comm., 151, 136, (1998).
- 'Observation of the scissors mode and evidence for superfluidity of a trapped Bose-Einstein condensed gas', O.M.Maragò, S.A.Hopkins, J.Arlt, E.Hodby, G.Hechenblaikner and C.J.Foot, Phys.Rev.Lett., 84, 2056 (2000).
- 'Experimental observation of a superfluid gyroscope in a dilute Bose-Einstein condensate', E.Hodby, S.A.Hopkins, G.Hechenblaikner, N.L.Smith and C.J.Foot, Phys.Rev.Lett., 91, 090403 (2003).
- 'Bose-Einstein condensation of 85Rb by direct evaporation in an optical dipole trap', A.L. Marchant, S.Händel, S.A.Hopkins, T.P. Wiles and S.L. Cornish Phys.Rev.A, 85, 053647 (2012).
- 'Quantum Gases, Finite Temperature and Non-Equilibrium Dynamics, chapter 2, 'Experimental Considerations', S.A.Hopkins and S.L. Cornish, eds N. Proukakis, S. Gardiner and M. Davis, World Scientific Press (2012).
- 'A versatile dual-species Zeeman slower for caesium and ytterbium', S.A.Hopkins, K.L.Butler, A.Guttridge, S.L.Kemp, R.Freytag, M.P.A Jones, E.A.Hinds, M.R.Tarbutt and S.L. Cornish, Rev.Sci.Instrum., 87, 043109 (2016).
- 'Production of ultracold Cs*Yb molecules by photoassociation', A. Guttridge, S. A. Hopkins, Matthew D. Frye, John J. McFerran, Jeremy M. Hutson and Simon L. Cornish, Phys. Rev. A, 97, 063414 (2018).