Who’s who at the lab-Yiqi Wang

person walking by the sea.
Name: 
Yiqi Wang
Position: 
Graduate Student in Applied Physics

What do you do here at Wright Lab?  

I am a fifth-year graduate student from the applied physics department, working with Prof. Jack Harris. More specifically, I am working on liquid helium based opto-mechanical systems, including a liquid helium filled fiber cavity and a levitated liquid helium drop. The goal of these projects is to try to explore the quantum phenomena in macroscopic objects.

What is the most unique and/or exciting experience you’ve had here at Wright Lab? 

The first time when I saw the superfluid helium is levitated by our strong 15T superconducting magnet here in the Wright Lab West (WLW)-327 basement (strong enough to levitate a frog if you want!). The small helium droplets rotate and concentrate in the vacuum and finally merge into a pure, transparent and perfect drop. Ponder maybe that’s what happened in a newborn star.

What are you looking forward to in the coming year at Wright Lab?

Last summer, our lab has undergone significant facility improvements. One dilution cryostat has been moved to our new lab space in YSB, and we have two new “baby” cryostats to run strong magnetic fields and levitate Helium-3 and Helium-4 in Wright Lab! Hopefully, we can explore more new and exciting physics!

What is something that people might not know about you that youd like to share with the community? 

I was born on a small island, Luxi island, in China. To arrive to the nearest city on the mainland will take me over 4 hours in a ferry. Therefore, I spent most of my childhood on the island.  I am intoxicated to feel the sea breeze through my hair and enjoyed watching the sun rising and falling on the ceaseless sea line. The ocean always gives a feeling of home, and fortunately, New Haven is close to the “sea”.  I feel connected when I walk along the seashore in New Haven.