michael fraser

Fulbright Postgraduate Award

Media Profile

“Quantum states of matter are currently one of the most active and interesting areas of fundamental research. The ability to create and manipulate quantum states will advance emerging quantum technologies and create entirely new forms of computation and communication.”

Michael Fraser has won a Fulbright Postgraduate Award and will conduct research into aspects of Bose-Einstein condensation, specifically of exciton and exciton-polariton states, at the Quantum Information Science Group at Stanford University. Michael is a graduate in Science with Advanced Studies and Microelectronics Engineering with majors in Physics and Physical Mathematics from Griffith University and was awarded first class honours. He is currently completing his PhD in physics on an Australian Postgraduate Award at the Australian National University, in Canberra under the supervision of Professor Jagadish.

The creation of the first Bose-Einstein condensate in 1995 caused much excitement in the scientific community and the field of Bose-Einstein condensation is currently one of the most exciting and active fields of research in physics, and has been over the course of the 20th century with the award of Nobel prizes for superfluidity, superconductivity and atomic Bose-Einstein condensation.

“The successful condensation of these exotic particles, which commonly exist in semiconductor crystals, would represent a new state of matter and would contribute to our understanding of quantum physics.  Semiconductor crystals are the building blocks of much of our current electronic and optoelectronic technology.  We can apply the wealth of established semiconductor processing methods to create and manipulate these states and develop applications for this new physics”, Michael stated.

Michael is one of the few scientists working is this field. His research involves both theory and experiment and he has created experimental facilities to conduct new experiments and a sophisticated model to predict and explain his results.

“I will be performing experiments with Professor Yamamoto at Stanford University, who heads one of the leading groups in the fields of exciton-polariton condensation and quantum information. The intellectual input along with the techniques and lab facilities I will be exposed to in the U.S. will give me new skills and experience as well as complement the work I have done in Australia.”

Michael’s professionalism and achievements have been recognised through a University Medal from Griffith University, the Australian Institute of Physics Science Prize for undergraduates along with recognition for the Best Honours Research Thesis.