Speaker: Prof. Raimer Dumke, NTU Singapore
Title: Integrating Atoms and Superconductors - Towards a Unified Quantum Hardware Architecture
Abstract: Quantum technology is evolving toward hybrid architectures that unite the long coherence and precision of atomic systems with the high-speed control and scalability of superconducting quantum circuits. I will discuss innovations enabling hybrid atom–superconductor coupling, including experiments transporting ultracold atoms into dilution refrigerators, demonstrating lifetimes exceeding 10 minutes under cryogenic conditions, and ongoing work toward Rydberg-transmon coupling. On the superconducting side, the presentation covers 5-20 qubit devices, scalable RFSoC-based control electronics, and their integration within cloud-accessible quantum computing platforms.
Location: WMI Seminar Room 143
Online: Zoom Link, Meeting-ID: 634 3633 2812, Kenncode: 642403
Are you looking for an opportunity to experimentally investigate novel quantum communication approaches in superconducting networks? We aim to strengthen our research team at the Walther-Meißner-Institute (WMI) of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BAdW) and open a PhD researcher position for hybrid-variable quantum microwave communication. Please apply before 15 Jan 2026. For more information, please see the pdf document.
Contact: Kirill Fedorov
Since 2000, the State Ministry of Science and the Arts has been awarding the PRO MERITIS SCIENTIAE ET LITTERARUM prize to outstanding individuals for their services to science and the arts. On October 28, 2025, Minister of State Blume presented this award to Rudolf Gross, the long-standing director of WMI. "He laid the foundations for the institute's international leadership position. With his deep technical expertise and strategic foresight, he has made the Bavarian quantum ecosystem what it is today – one of Europe's most important centers for quantum research – through the first Collaborative Research Center on solid-state-based quantum information processing, the two clusters of excellence NIM and MCQST, and the Munich Quantum Valley", Minister Blume emphasized.
The Nobel Prize in Physics in the IYQ 2025 honors the achievements of John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret, and John M. Martinis in the field of macroscopic quantum phenomena and celebrates the centenary of quantum mechanics. The realization of quantized electrical circuits has enabled, among other things, the development of superconducting qubits, a key technology for quantum computers. Typically, quantum effects such as tunneling through classically insurmountable barriers can only be observed on extremely small scales. This makes states such as superpositions possible, in which microscopic particles can exist on both sides of a barrier. In the 1970s, the award-winning researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, successfully demonstrated this tunneling effect on macroscopic scales and created superpositions based on tunneling through Josephson junctions. Here, at the Walther Meißner Institute, researchers follow the footsteps of the Nobel laureates and further develop superconducting qubits.
In the evening of Monday, 06.10.2025, WMI opened its doors to the general public in the context of the 2025 International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ) and the outreach activities of the Munich Quantum Valley.
Forty-seven participants visited our laboratories to learn about superconducting qubits, nanofabrication, spin systems, and quantum communication. The event began with a presentation by our director, Peter Rabl, who shared the history behind physics at the lowest temperatures.
The Quantum Computing Group at WMI presented a coherent control method for superconducting fluxonium qubits, employing a Purcell‑protected flux line featuring a low‑pass filter. This approach closes the control hannel at the qubit transition frequency, reducing qubit decay while enabling fast, high‑fidelity control via parametric subharmonic driving at integer fractions of the transition frequency. The scheme supports coherent control using up to 11‑photon subharmonic drives, with observed Rabi frequencies and induced frequency shifts aligning closely with theoretical models. A three‑photon subharmonic drive is functionally equivalent to on‑resonance driving, achieving single‑qubit gate fidelities exceeding 99.94%. This demonstration establishes a scalable and wiring‑efficient control architecture for fluxonium‑based quantum processors.
