superconducting qubits

The established knowledge and technical infrastructure from decades of quantum research are allowing researchers to harness quantum technologies in unexpected, innovative ways and creating new research opportunities. In a paper published in the journal Nature Physics, a collaboration between theorists at JQI and experimentalists at Harvard University presented a technique that repurposes the technology of superconducting circuits to study samples with exotic forms of superconductivity. The collaboration demonstrated that by building samples of interest into a superconducting circuit they could spy on exotic superconducting behaviors that have eluded existing measurement techniques.

Quantum computers are the basis of a growing industry. However, their technology isn’t standardized yet, and researchers are still studying the physics behind the ways to build these quantum devices. Even the most basic building blocks of a quantum computer—qubits—are still an active research topic. In an article published September 23, 2024 in the journal Physical Review A, JQI researchers proposed a way to use the physics of superconducting junctions to let each function as more than one qubit.

Quantum particles have unique properties that make them powerful tools, but those very same properties can be the bane of researchers. Each quantum particle can inhabit a combination of multiple possibilities, called a quantum superposition, and together they can form intricate webs of connection through quantum entanglement.

JQI Fellow Alicia Kollár has been awarded a grant by the Air Force’s Young Investigator Research Program (YIP). She is one of 36 early-career researchers around the US to receive the three-year, $450,000 award.

Qubit-based computing exploiting spooky quantum effects like entanglement and superposition will speed up factoring and searching calculations far above what can be done with mere zero-or-one bits. To domesticate quantum weirdness, however, to make it a fit companion for mass-market electronic technology, many tricky bi-lateral and multi-lateral arrangements---among photons, electrons, circuits, cavities, etc.---need to be negotiated.