Gravitational waves from inflation generate a faint but distinctive twisting pattern in the polarization of the CMB, known as a "curl" or
B-mode pattern. For the density fluctuations that generate most of the polarization of the CMB, this part of the primordial pattern is
exactly zero. Shown here is the actual B-mode pattern observed with the BICEP2 telescope, with the line segments showing the
polarization from different spots on the sky. The red and blue shading shows the degree of clockwise and anti-clockwise twisting of
this B-mode pattern. (Credit for this image: BICEP2 Collaboration; Credit for image on pg. 5: Steffen Richter, Harvard University)
On March 17, 2014 when the team for BICEP2 (Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic
Polarization 2) announced to the world that it had detected the physical signature of inflation, the
news stunned scientists. Many called it the discovery of the century. MIT’s Max Tegmark said it
would go down as one of the biggest scientific discoveries of all time.
The detection of a strong B-mode polarization pattern in the Cosmic Microwave Background is, of
course, provisional. But if confirmed by other cosmology teams, the B-mode signature opens a
window much farther back than the CMB radiation itself, which was released into the universe
380,000 years after the Big Bang. Primordial B-modes can only be a consequence of gravitational
waves that rippled through space-time during an inflationary epoch that occurred an infinitesimal
fraction of a second after the Big Bang itself – right at the beginning. They reveal the energy scales
at which the Big Bang occurred. And they provide “smoking gun” evidence that inflation actually
happened. Their detection, although tentative, is fueling intense theoretical discussions of the
implications of an inflationary universe – including the existence of an infinite “multiverse.”
The BICEP2 team has close ties to UCSD. Back in 2002, Prof. Brian Keating helped propose the
BICEP experiment at the South Pole to search for B-modes (BICEP2 is a successor project), and
Brian is a current BICEP2 team member. Working with him at UCSD is Jonathan Kaufman, 29,
who recently shared some details about what it was like to be part of the incredible March 17
announcement, his contributions to BICEP2 during trips to the South Pole, and other personal
reflections.
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Professor Maple was, just like he is now, was one of the leaders in this field and his research program included a
variety of research tools and characterization techniques that included some of Quantum Design’s instruments. In
particular, the Quantum Design Magnetic Measurement System (MPMS) was the workhorse for the magnetic
characterization of a wide range of superconducting, heavy Fermion and magnetic material compounds synthetized in
his laboratory.
Shortly after I joined his group I began utilizing the MPMS, and I was immediately struck by its measurement
sensitivity, sophisticated user interface, reliability and ease of use. I knew right then that I wanted to have something to
do with this company that was manufacturing such a remarkable instrument. I asked Professor Maple if there could be
a way to carry out my doctoral research in collaboration with Quantum Design – a local San Diego company with
headquarters in Sorrento Valley just a few minutes from campus.
Professor Maple contacted Dr. Ronald E. Sager, who was one of the co-founders of Quantum Design and also a
UCSD Alumnus. Dr. Sager was a student of the late Professor John Wheatley, one of the co-founding members of the
UCSD Physics Department, and had Professor Maple as a member of his thesis committee. As a result of this
connection, I was given the unique opportunity to work with Quantum Design in the development of the new
measurement option for this system, and I made this the centerpiece of my doctoral research. To my knowledge, this
was the first-ever sponsorship at UCSD of a young scientist by this company, a tradition that we have kept ever since.
LIEBERMAN: How did this work experience help you in your Ph.D. studies, and also help prepare you for a
career?
SPAGNA: My close affiliation with Quantum Design was instrumental in my life in developing a sense of “urgency” in
anything that I decided to undertake. This spanned my Ph.D. research and later throughout my career at Quantum
Design. In a real company situation, the stakes are always high and time cannot be wasted on “idle” endeavors. For
instance, from an experimental point of view I learned that every experiment matters so that data should be taken for a
very specific purpose and not for the sake of “data taking”.
So in graduate school, you could say that I was always a very driven individual who was interested in getting the most
results in the shortest amount of time. This did not mean cutting corners, but rather to be focused on what was to be
discovered, what essential set of data was required, and why. Later on, as a young research scientist working at
Quantum Design, I learned a great deal more about constructive “true urgency,” as opposed to the frantic wheel
spinning that is so often mistaken for urgency. One of the individuals that taught me this was Dr. Michael Simmonds,
the co-founder of Quantum Design whose mantra is “let’s get the answer to this problem before noon today!” When
you really think about it, this outlook really changes the way you work, plan your day and ultimately live your life!
When I joined Quantum Design full-time in the summer of 1995, the company was facing fierce competition from a new
company named Conductus that quite surprisingly had decided to enter the SQUID magnetometer market. As result of
this competition, the MPMS-2 platform badly needed to be upgraded with a number of new features in order to better
compete with this new threat. A number of young scientists, including myself, were hired to specifically work on these
new features. My task was to develop a new low temperature capability for the MPMS platform that would allow it to
control temperatures below 4.2 Kelvin indefinitely. It was not an easy task. I remember that a sense of mission and
urgency drove everyone to perform incredible amounts of work day in and day out, and by the time of the American
Physical Society’s March meeting we were able to demonstrate these new capabilities with outstanding data, working
hardware and great advertising at the trade show. As a result of this hard work, we really shattered the hopes of our
competition, which could never make a foothold in our market.
LIEBERMAN: How did your UCSD education prepare you for your career at Quantum Design?
SPAGNA: First and foremost, the education I got at UCSD taught me the ability to think critically and solve problems. It
also allowed me to recognize that any task or problem, no matter how difficult, could be solved if you worked at it
tenaciously enough. One example of such a fact was how I interacted with Prof. Maple during my affiliation with his
group. Being a busy scientist and traveling quite often, he rarely stopped by the laboratory to check on experiments. In
general, his students read all of the relevant scientific literature and performed experiments – telling him later about it.
As a rule, Prof. Maple was mostly interested in a work’s concept and in its result. But whenever possible, he would
offer very insightful advice for the general direction of the research to be carried out.
This drove me to work quite independently to design, build the apparatus needed for my experiments, and perform
them in a timely manner. It was then that I understood that experimental physics is about developing a deep intuition
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of the phenomena you are studying, day after day – to the extent that you see it, dream about it and breathe it until the
answer presents itself to you one day – to your utter amazement. This experience about relying only on my own inner
resources never left me.
Another important lesson that I gained in Prof. Maple’s group was the importance of working in a stimulating
environment. Shared day-to-day activities bonded together a group of like-minded people around Prof. Maple. These
were people who considered physics more important than anything else, and they generously gave it all their heart and
talent. This environment is essential to any new discovery, and interestingly enough it is essential in the workplace as
well.
At UCSD I also developed an appreciation for a high-quality education. The ability to design, build and use leading
edge instrumentation in undergraduate and graduate laboratory courses and in my own research made me understand
the important impact these instruments have in the development of any student. This is why Quantum Design has
TM
started a new initiative to market the VersaLab , a cryocooled temperature and magnetic field platform specifically for
undergraduate and two-year college laboratory courses.
LIEBERMAN: What was the subject of your Ph.D. thesis?
SPAGNA: The title of my dissertation was: “A Ultra High Vacuum compatible SQUID Magnetometer System for
investigations in Surface, Interface and Thin Film Magnetism.” Let me explain: This system enabled us to study the
effect of oxidation on the magnetic behavior of very thin magnetic films. Now, an Ultra High Vacuum environment is
really difficult to work with, and up to that moment direct magnetic measurement techniques in these type of systems
was lacking. Why do people work in UHV? Typically to fabricate thin films of the highest quality that can exhibit
interesting surface and interface magnetic behavior. Given popularity of the MPMS platform, the idea here was to
adapt this instrument to enable freshly deposited thin film samples to be transported from a molecular-beam epitaxy
deposition facility to the magnetometer without breaking vacuum. Once this capability was developed, in-situ
measurements of the magnetic properties of Co/CoO bilayered thin film grown on Si(100) single-crystals substrates
were demonstrated.
LIEBERMAN: What was a key lesson you learned while in school, that still helps guide you today?
SPAGNA: One of the things that I learned while in Prof. Maple’s laboratory proved to be priceless later on in my life: to
be tenaciously pursuing the dreams of my life whatever they may be and no matter what obstacles might arise.
LIEBERMAN: When the company hires a UCSD physics student, what are the key skills/talents the company
has come to expect?
SPAGNA: We typically welcome applications from bright, energetic individuals who are quick learners and can work
independently. Typically we hire students with a physics or engineering background. Since we manufacture
instruments, we prefer students who have substantial experience in designing and building an apparatus or piece of
equipment for a complex experiment. In the case of Ph.D. students, we also are interested in applicants who might
have used our instruments in their research. For the most part, our experience with UCSD students has been positive
and a few have become full time employees. As you would expect, we have a high regard of the UCSD Physics
Department!
****
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