Quantum News Briefs May 9: Q-CTRL welcomes Dave Kielpinski as principal quantum control scientist to accelerate quantum computing innovation; Symmetric graphene quantum dots for future qubits; Virginia Tech Innovation campus opens Center for Quantum Architecture & Software Development + MORE.
Q-CTRL welcomes Dave Kielpinski as principal quantum control scientist to accelerate quantum computing innovation
Kielpinski has spent the last 25 years contributing to and leading research projects in uncharted territories of science. In 2002, he authored a foundational paper for quantum computing, which laid out the framework for the architecture of large scale ion trap quantum computers. This architecture arose from 
“Bringing a quantum computing trailblazer like Dave onboard is a major addition for our team,” said Q-CTRL Chief Scientific Officer Michael Hush. “His research laid the foundations of modern quantum computing with trapped ions. Plus his industry experience in integrated photonics and machine learning opens new opportunities for us to demonstrate our capabilities.”
In his new role, Kielpinski will apply his scientific and research expertise to solving the toughest technical challenges facing the quantum industry and shape future capabilities in Q-CTRL’s AI- powered quantum infrastructure software suite. His background and expertise will help expand the range of hardware platforms supported by Q-CTRL’s software, building on the company’s globally unique track record of validation on real quantum computers.
Quantum dots in semiconductors such as silicon or gallium arsenide have long been considered hot candidates for hosting quantum bits in future quantum processors. Scientists at Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University have now shown that bilayer graphene has even more to offer here than other materials. The double quantum dots they have created are characterized by a nearly perfect electron-hole-symmetry that allows a robust read-out mechanism — one of the necessary criteria for quantum computing. The results were published in the journal Nature.
Symmetric graphene quantum dots for future qubits
Quantum dots in semiconductors such as silicon or gallium arsenide have long been considered hot candidates for hosting quantum bits in future quantum processors. Scientists at Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University have now shown that bilayer graphene has even more to offer here than other materials. The double quantum dots they have created are characterized by a nearly perfect electron-hole-symmetry that allows a robust read-out mechanism — one of the necessary criteria for quantum computing. Quantum News Briefs summarizes a May 8 article in Science Daily.
The development of robust semiconductor spin qubits could help the realization of large-scale quantum computers in the future. However, current quantum dot based qubit systems are still in their infancy. In 2022, researchers at QuTech in the Netherlands were able to create 6 silicon-based spin qubits for the first time. With graphene, there is still a long way to go. The material, which was first isolated in 2004, is highly attractive to many scientists. But the realization of the first quantum bit has yet to come.
“Bilayer graphene is a unique semiconductor,” explains Prof. Christoph Stampfer of Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University. “It shares several properties with single-layer graphene and also has some other special features. This makes it very interesting for quantum technologies.”
Christoph Stampfer says. He and his colleagues have created a so-called double quantum dot: two opposing quantum dots, each housing an electron and a hole whose spin properties mirror each other almost perfectly.
“This symmetry has two remarkable consequences: it is almost perfectly preserved even when electrons and holes are spatially separated in different quantum dots,” Stampfer said. This mechanism can be used to couple qubits to other qubits over a longer distance. And what’s more, “the symmetry results in a very robust blockade mechanism which could be used to read out the spin state of the dot with high fidelity.” Click here to read Science Daily article in-entirety.
Virginia Tech Innovation campus opens Center for Quantum Architecture & Software Development; conducting search for Director
The Center for Quantum Architecture & Software Development: Leading global aerospace and defense company Northrop Grumman is a key strategic partner of the Innovation Campus, supporting research and teaching in quantum information science and engineering, the company’s commitment will dramatically enhance the university’s work in the field, with the profound potential to reshape industries and alter the dynamics of national security. Virginia Tech faculty, students, and collaborators are working together at the intersection of quantum disciplines in order to drive quantum from the lab to real world application. Northrop Grumman’s support will be used to: establish an endowed faculty position that will help recruit a globally recognized researcher to head the new Center; endow 5-10 graduate fellowship posts to recruit nationally competitive doctoral and master’s candidates, with a focus on diversity; and build programs to connect Northrop Grumman experts with Virginia Tech quantum information science and engineering faculty based both at the Innovation Campus as well as the Blacksburg campus.
The Virginia Tech Innovation Campus plans to invest an additional $15.8 million bringing the total support for the initiative to $28.3 million. Per Kathy Warden, CEO of, Northrop Grumman and Innovation Campus advisory board member said, “the partnership with Virginia Tech will help support [the] vision to solve the world’s most pressing problems with ground-breaking technologies.”
PSIRCH, on behalf of Virginia Tech Innovation Campus in partnership with Northrop Grumman, is conducting a search for the position of: Director, Center for Quantum Architecture & Software Development. Submit resumes here: applicants@psirch.com The Center Director will hire and lead their own team at the brand-new state-of-the-art quantum center in Alexandria, Virginia, and will set the strategy, vision, and research direction, to raise the center’s acclaim and institute a world-class quantum program.
Researchers from Israel & Abu Dhabi partnering to improve performance of superconducting quantum processor
They are achieving this goal by improving the performance of the basic computational units of a superconducting quantum processor.
The improved qubit, called a “tunable superconducting flux qubit,” is a micron-sized superconducting loop where the electric current can flow clockwise, counterclockwise, or in a quantum superposition of both directions.
These characteristics would allow the computer to be much faster and more powerful than a normal computer. In order to exploit the potential speed, the quantum computer must run several hundred qubits simultaneously without them unintentionally interfering with each other.
As an alternative to what exists in quantum processors today, superconducting flux qubits have important advantages. First, they are very fast and reliable; second, it can be simpler to integrate many flux qubits into a processor compared to currently available technology. This research was conducted with funding from the Israel Science Foundation (ISF). Click here to read complete article.
Sandra K. Helsel, Ph.D. has been researching and reporting on frontier technologies since 1990. She has her Ph.D. from the University of Arizona.