David Patterson

David Patterson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB). His research focuses on extending atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) physics tools to prepare polyatomic molecules in single quantum states for the first time. Key areas of interest include quantum information systems, high precision spectroscopy, parity violation in molecular spectra, and single-molecule chemical/chiral analysis.

• Developed single molecule inelastic recoil spectroscopy for ultraprecise analysis
• Created non-destructive single molecule infrared spectroscopy (2022 breakthrough)
• Engineered a "ping-pong" double-well ion trap for Sr+ atoms and molecular ions
• Collaborates with the Schlemmer group (Cologne) on Doppler-limited spectroscopy

The group's work aims to achieve unprecedented resolution (2-3 orders of magnitude improvement) in polyatomic molecule spectroscopy, addressing fundamental questions in nanoanalytics.