Two teams of physicists led by Peter Zoller and Thomas Monz have designed the first programmable quantum sensor, and tested it in the laboratory. To do so they applied techniques from quantum information processing to a measurement problem. The innovative method promises quantum sensors whose precision reaches close to the limit set by the laws of nature.

Welcome Artem! He got his master's degree in nonlinear optics from the Moscow State University where he completed his thesis on two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy. He then worked for Huawei Technologies on quantum optimal control and dynamics simulation. As a PhD student he is joining Christian Roos's SPICY team to investigate quantum simulations with two-dimensional ion crystals.

Welcome Brandon! He completed his Ph.D. in physics in Prof. Mike Downer’s group at the University of Texas at Austin in Texas, USA, where he studied two-photon absorption spectroscopy and anisotropy in bulk semiconductors and silicon quantum dots using ultrafast laser systems. He is joining Philipp Schindler’s QCosmo team to identify, analyze, and demonstrate efficient implementations of quantum error correction with single trapped molecules using Raman frequency comb spectroscopy and other methods.

Welcome Zak! Zak completed his PhD at the Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, U.K., working on exploring coherent light-matter interactions in semiconductor quantum dots for applications in quantum communication. He will be joining the Ben Lanyon’s Quantum Frequency Conversion team to interface arrays of multiple trapped atomic ions with trains of traveling photons and to facilitate distribution of entanglement across remote systems.

Congratulations, Johannes!

Thesis Titled: Magnetic field noise cancellation for quantum simulation experiment with trapped ions

Welcome Jakob! Jakob studied physics in Innsbruck and did his master's thesis in the group of Prof. Dr. Tracy Northup on the simulation of Gaussian modes in fiber based Fabry-Perot cavities. Now he joined the Cryo team as a PhD student. He will work partly in the University of Innsbruck and at Infineon Technologies in Villach on the development of cryogenic ion surface traps with integrated optics.

The study of levitated dipolar scatterers is a growing field of physics that promises to uncover the connection between quantum mechanics and gravity and develop future devices for ultra-precise force sensing. In collaboration with the nanosphere team of the QI group, we investigated a new method based on the manipulation of spontaneous emission to measure the position and motion of these scatterers. In this work, we predict that our method, unlike other state-of-the-art techniques, can reach the Heisenberg limit of detection, in which the position measurement is only bounded by the recoil force of the scattered light.

Welcome Zhenlin! During his undergraduate study, Zhenlin joined the group of Prof. Yiheng Lin in the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) where he learned about trapped ion quantum system. After his graduation he studied his master in the group of Prof. Rene Gerritsma in the University of Amsterdam, where he was involved in setting up the experiment for quantum simulation with 2D trapped ion crystals. He will be working on realizing quantum characterization and control of single trapped molecular ions in the QCosmo project during his PhD.

Congratulations, Tiff!

Thesis Title: Randomised Measurements with Strings of Trapped Ions