Leonardo Razzai has been a PhD student in Physics at the University of Bologna since November 2024. His research focuses on experimental atomic physics, with particular attention to laser cooling techniques, the manipulation of cold atoms, and quantum technologies based on photonic crystal fibers. His research interests are especially directed toward the interaction between light and atomic gases confined in reduced geometries, with the goal of exploring new emerging collective phenomena. At present, his work centers on the loading and cooling of rubidium atoms inside hollow-core fibers for the development of new quantum photonic platforms, within the framework of the European project Cryst3.
Education
He obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Physics and Astrophysics with honors at the University of Florence in 2022, defending a thesis titled Quantum key distribution with an up-conversion detector (supervisor: Prof. Alessandro Zavatta).
He continued his studies at the University of Bologna, where in 2024 he earned a Master’s Degree in Physics, with honors, with a thesis titled Setup of a MOT of cold $^{87}$Rb atoms near a hollow core photonic crystal fiber (supervisor: Prof. Francesco Minardi, co-supervisor: Prof. Marco Prevedelli).
Since November 2024, he has been a PhD student in Physics at the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Bologna.
Research Experience
During his PhD, he has implemented and optimized sub-Doppler cooling techniques for rubidium magneto-optical traps (MOT), designing and building the optical system for injection into hollow-core fibers. He has also developed numerical simulations to estimate the number of atoms trapped inside the fiber.
In 2024, he carried out his Master’s thesis internship at DIFA, where he contributed to the realization and characterization of a laser system for rubidium MOTs, implementing FM spectroscopy for laser locking and stabilizing cooling and repumping laser frequencies using beat note locking techniques.
In 2022, he carried out his Bachelor’s thesis internship at INO-CNR in Florence, where he developed an up-conversion apparatus to improve the efficiency of single-photon detectors and characterized a Quantum Key Distribution system based on time-bin encoding.
Teaching
Between 2023 and 2024, he worked as a tutor at the University of Bologna, providing support to students with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) in Classical Mechanics, Electromagnetism, Thermodynamics, Calculus, Linear Algebra, and Statistics.
Schools and Conferences
He has taken part in several international summer schools and conferences in the field of atomic physics and ultracold quantum matter, including:
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Young Atomic Opticians Conference 2025 (University of Innsbruck), with a poster presentation titled Cold Rb atoms into a hollow-core Kagome fiber.
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CAPS and CQA Winter School on Ultracold Quantum Many-body Systems (Benasque Science Center, 2025).
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Quantum Science and Technology Summer School (University Aldo Moro, Bari, 2024).
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Collective Phenomena in Quantum Many-Body Physics Summer School (MPI for Complex Systems, Dresden, 2024).
Skills
His skills include:
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Experimental techniques: optics and photonics, laser cooling and trapping of cold atoms, RF electronics and PID controllers, UHV technology.
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Programming and data analysis: Python (NumPy, SciPy, Matplotlib, Pandas), Matlab, Mathematica, Git/GitHub, HTML/CSS/JavaScript.
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Operating systems: Linux and Windows.
He is a native Italian speaker and speaks English at C1 level.
