News

03-12-24
Matthias Althammer receives ERC CoG

The European Research Counsil (ERC) has awarded its Consolidator Grants (CoG) to 328 outstanding scientists in 25 EU Member States with a total budget of 678 million euros. Matthias Althammer was awarded one of these prestigious grants, allowing him to implement his ambiguous research project, on antiferromagnetic magnonics as a platform for energy-efficient information processing. "I am very happy that Matthias was successful in this highly competitive funding scheme with a total success rate of only 14.2%”, Rudolf Gross, scientific director at WMI, says.

WMI Press Release
ERC Press Release

09-10-24

In their experiment, researchers at the WMI design and characterize a multimode superconducting quantum circuit that forms an artificial molecule. The circuit has two characteristic nonlinear oscillation modes. One is used as a protected qubit mode that can be efficiently decoupled from the measurement circuit to prevent the loss of quantum information. The second mode is used as a mediator that controls the interaction between the qubit mode and the measurement circuit. This protected multimode qubit has the potential to also suppress unwanted interactions between neighboring qubits, thereby solving another major challenge in scaling up quantum processors. It can thus serve as a building block for a quantum processor architecture that retains the performance of a single qubit at large scale.

10-09-24

As part of the "MOQS – Molecular Quantum Simulations" consortium, researchers at WMI explored the potential of quantum computing to simulate the quantum effects that govern chemical reactions. Their findings suggest that the chemical industry could be among the earliest beneficiaries of advancements in quantum computing. The report was prominently featured as the cover article in the September issue of Physics Today and is available to read online free of charge.

30-08-24
Quantum cryptography goes microwave

Quantum technology allows for unconditional security in microwave-based communication. Now, a team of researchers from the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BAdW), the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the University of Tokyo, and Rohde & Schwarz GmbH joined forces to demonstrate the successful realization of a quantum key distribution (QKD) protocol in the microwave regime. This significant achievement is highly relevant for modern communication systems.

Press Release

11-08-24
Rare-earth Ions for Quantum Information

The workshop on Rare-Earth Ions for Quantum Information 2024 is taking place in Munich from 17 to 20 September 2024, hosted by the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities in its premises at the Munich Residence. The oranizing team includes Nadezhda Kukharchyk of WMI/BAdW and Andreas Reiserer of NAT/TUM. The scientific program will be complemented by an informal get-together in the evening of September 17, and lab tours on September 20 in the afternoon.

 

24-06-24
A New Way to Transport Spin Currents

In a recent Physical Review Letters, a team of researchers from the Walther-Meißner-Institute (WMI) of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BAdW), the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the ETH Zürich, the University of Konstanz and the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) has demonstrated the transfer of spin information between two separated ferromagnetic metal strips harnessing magnetic excitations, providing a new avenue for spintronics.

Featured in Physics, Press Release

18-06-24
DM opens Exhibition on Light & Matter

The new permanent exhibition on "Light & Matter" has been jointly developed by the Cluster of Excellence MCQST and the Deutsches Museum. "The new exhibition makes quantum technology and quantum optical phenomena tangible for the broad public", Rudolf Gross, spokesperson of MCQST and member of the Fachbeirat of the exhibition says. "It is even better that the exhibition also allows us to present key MCQST results and an outlook on their future applications", he adds.

Deutsches Museum: Licht & Materie

30-05-24
Microwave Single-Photon Detectors are within Reach

WMI scientists provide important new insight into transmon ionization (TI). This process is detrimental to superconducting qubit coherence and limits the performance of microwave single-photon detectors (SPDs) based on a 3D multimode cavity coupled to a transmon qubit. Based on their detailed study, the WMI researchers can propose potential solutions for further increasing the quantum efficiency of SPDs, which are key elements for for advancing quantum communication and sensing technologies.

04-05-24
"Cool" physics at BAdW’s Tag der offenen Tür

On Saturday, May 4th, the Bavarian Academy of Science opened its doors to the public. At the Residenz in Munich, over 5.500 visitors explored the various institutes that constitute the BAdW. On the forefront, the WMI showed interested adults and kids the fascinating physics that take place at ultra-low temperatures, ranging from experiments with liquid nitrogen and superconducting materials all the way up to modern quantum computing.

26-04-24
WMI hosts kick-off seminar of jDPG PhD-Kolleg

WMI hosts the kick-off seminar of the jDPG-Kolleg "Next Generation Computing". About 30 PhD students delved into questions spanning from the technical implementation of quantum computers, the availability and use cases of quantum algorithms, potential applications, to broader social implications. The efforts of the students are complemented by an advisory board from the scientific community (Hans Huebl - WMI, Jeanette Lorenz - FhG), industry (Adrian Auter - IQM) and organisations briding the gap between industry and academia (Andreas Böhm - Bayern Innovativ). The opening talk by Max Werninghaus highlighted sc quantum processors and perfectly set the stage for the discussions during the weekend. 

12-04-24
Quantum Symposium was big success

The symposium on Quantum Technologies organized jointly by the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BAdW) and the Munich Quantum Valley (MQV) was a big success. It took place in the premises of BAdW in the Munich Residence with more than 300 participants. An additional audience of more than 300 followed the symposium in the livestream. Rudolf Gross, the Scientific and Managing Director of Munich Quantum Valley, led through the program.

08-03-24
Symposium on Quantum Technologies on 12 April 2024

Quantum technologies have the potential to have a profound impact on science, society and the economy. But where do quantum technologies stand today? And in which application could they bring the greatest benefits in the future? This and more will be the subject of the symposium organized by the BAdW in cooperation with MQV on 12 April 2024 from 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm in the Munich Residence. Further information on the program and registration can be found on the BAdW website.

01-03-24
MQV Public Annual Report 2023 available

The Munich Quantum Valley has compiled a public report to provide an overview of its activities within 2023 to the public. As part of the Bavarian Hightech Agenda, MQV succeded in establishing a vivid quantum ecosystem providing broad quantum education, excellent research, technology transfer, and innovative applications.  "We are proud of what we have achieved in the past year by joining forces in the Bavarian quantum ecosystem and I would like to thank all MQV members for their support in assembling the report", MQV Scientific Director Rudolf Gross points out.

23-01-24

The magnetoelastic coupling of magnetic and elastic excitations enables the generation of elastic waves carrying angular momentum. In a quantum picture, this corresponds to a resonant conversion of magnons to chiral phonons and vice versa. WMI researchers realize this conversion process using a simple and versatile experimental platform consisting of a metallic magnetic thin film on a crystalline substrate. These findings allow us to study the impact of crystal symmetry on angular momentum transport by phonons and investigate phononic birefringence.

18-12-23

Entanglement is a key resource for quantum information processing and quantum communication applications. Researchers at WMI have proposed and analyzed a new scheme for distributing a large amount of entanglement between multiple nodes of a quantum network, while at the same time using only a minimal amount of experimental resources. Moreover, the proposed protocol has a built-in multiplexing mechanism, which can be used to entangle more and more qubits within a fixed amount of time.

12-12-23
Venia Legendi for Matthias Althammer

Matthias Althammer was granted the Venia Lengendi in Experimental Physics from the Technical University of Munich. Matthias Althammer joined WMI in 2013 and is Senior Staff Scientist sine 2015. He submitted his Habilitation Thesis entitled Pure Spin Currents in Magnetically Ordered Insulators in 2021 and completed the habilitation process in the same year. Meanwhile he received the Venia Legendi in Experimental Physics.  We are very happy that Matthias is strengthening the WMI teaching team,  as offering high quality lectures and seminars is key for attracting talented students to WMI. Congratulations to Matthias and all the best for his teaching career!

01-11-23
Focus issue on quantum computing published

Quantum computers promise speed advantages for certain computational problems compared to classic computers. However, there are still significant hurdles before this happens to master. These do not arise solely from the necessity of technological developments to build large-scale quantum computers at all, but there are also new ideas for applications needed – ideas that require new schools of thought. The focus issue on quantum computing discusses these aspects from different perspectives, including an article from Stefan Filipp (Walther-Meißner-Institut & TU Munich) and Gian Salis (IBM Research - Zurich) on solid-state based quantum computing systems. 

01-11-23

The Mid-Term Report of the Excellence Cluster Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST) is ready and now available as pdf-document or as printed version. "It is amazing what MCQST has achieved since 2019 regarding scientific output, fostering of young talents, educational programs, organization of events, outreach activities, and media presence. The MCQST Office has done a marvellous job by condensing the broad MCQST activities into a compact report", spokesperson Rudolf Gross points out.

28-09-23
Venia Legendi for Kirill Fedorov

After finishing his habilitation thesis in November 2022, Kirill Fedorov now was granted the Venia Lengendi in Experimental Physics from the Technical University of Munich. We heartly congratulate Kirill and are very happy that we have another ambitious young lecturer at WMI who particularly supports the teaching program of the interdisciplinary master course in Quantum Science and Technology, WMI director Rudolf Gross points out. Offering high quality lectures and seminars is key for attracting talented student to WMI, he adds.

14-09-23

One of the cornerstones of quantum communication is the unconditionally secure distribution of classical keys between remote parties by making use of the quantum properties of propagating electromagnetic waves. Now WMI researches demonstrate that continuous-variable quantum key distribution with propagating microwaves can be unconditionally secure with communication at room temperature up to distances of around 200 m. Most remarkable, they show that microwaves can potentially outperform conventional quantum key distribution at telecom wavelengths and imperfect weather conditions.

21-08-23

In an international collaboration with Japanese colleagues, WMI researchers developed a nonlinear Quantum Microwave Parametric Interferometer (QuMPI) based on superconducting quantum circuits. Interferometers are powerful tools for precision measurements in a plethora of research fields and applications. The accuracy of classical devices is bound by the standard quantum limit. However, this limit can be overcome by using quantum states or nonlinear quantum elements. WMI now succeeded to realize a nonlinear QuMPI. The fascinating properties of this device range from a signal-to-noise ratio exceeding the shot-noise limit to sub-Poissonian intensity fluctuations between its outputs. QuMPIs will promote applications ranging from quantum illumination to the search for axionic dark matter.

01-08-23
Rudolf Gross becomes new MQV Scientific Director

On 1 August 2023, Rudolf Gross becomes Scientific Director of the Munich Quantum Valley (MQV) and Managing Director of the Munich Quantum Valley e.V. association. He takes over the tasks from Rainer Blatt, who hands over the baton to him after about two years. Rudolf Gross has been closely associated with MQV from the very beginning: Together with Immanuel Bloch, Ignacio Cirac, Klaus Blaum and Raoul Klingner, he authored the strategy paper that led to the foundation of MQV. Since 2021, he is member of MQV and coordinates the Quantum Technology Park & Entrepreneurship (QTPE) consortium. He is also PI within the two MQV lighthouse projects NeQuS and IQ-Sense.

25-07-23

In an international collaboration, WMI researchers succeeded in the levitation of a superconducting lead-tin sphere with 100 μm diameter (corresponding to a mass of 5.6 μg) in a static magnetic trap with a resonance frequency of 240 Hz and quality facor above 107. The combination of low temperature, large mass, and high quality factor provides a promising platform for testing quantum physics in previously unexplored regimes with high mass and long coherence times.

27-06-23
Quantum Technologies: Politics & Governance

In a panel discussion on "Quantum Technologies: Politics & Governance" moderated by Ulrich Mans (Quantum Delta NL) within the World of QUANTUM 2023, Petra Wolff (BMBF, Referat 514, QComputing/QTechnologies), Heike Riehl (IBM Research), Marianne Schoerling (GESDA, Open Quantum Institute), and Rudolf Gross (WMI, MCQST, MQV) discussed strategies and measures to promote quantum sciences and technologies in Europe. In particular, they addressed the questions what the EU’s position can be in the global quantum race and what type of European cooperation in QST is needed to achieve longterm technology leadership in Europe. 

26-06-23
WMI authors publish new textbook

The extended 3rd edition of the textbook "Festkörperphysik: Aufgaben und Lösungen" by Gross, Marx, Einzel and Geprägs appeared at De Gruyter Oldenbourg. By providing full solutions, the exercise book with over 100 tasks and complete sample solutions allows students to both consolidate and expand their knowledge and to test what they have learned. The extended 3rd edition with many new exercises on topolgical quantum matter is ideally suited for exam  preparation.

23-06-23
MCQST Best Master Thesis Prize for Wun Kwan Yam

The Excellence Cluster MCQST awards annual prizes to the students of the Master Course in Quantum Science & Technology submitting the best master thesis. At the Munich Conference on Quantum Science and Technology 2023, one of the two prizes was handed over to Wun Kwan Yam for his Master Thesis on "Microwave Quantum Teleportation Over a Thermal Channel", which he did at WMI under the supervision of Kirill Fedorov. The award comes with a small prize money kindly donated by Zurich Instruments AG. "We heartly congratulate Wan Kwan Yam and wish him the same success for his ongoing PhD thesis", MCQST spokesperson Rudolf Gross said during the Award Ceremony.

12-06-23
MCQST Award for Andreas Wallraff

Each year, the Excellence Cluster MCQST awards up to two scientists with the MCQST Distinguished Lecturer Award. In 2023, the prize has been awarded to Andreas Wallraff of ETH Zurich during a public event in the Munich Künstlerhaus. "We are very pleased to acknowledge the outstanding scientific achievements of Andreas Wallraff in the field of quantum science and technology, as well as his longterm commitment to communicate his research field to a broader public", Rudolf Gross, WMI director and spokesperson of MCQST, points out when handing over the prize medal.

29-03-23
New students-train-students seminar on fabrication

On March 23rd, the MCQST started its new seminar series on "Practical Top-Down Nanofabrication for Quantum Technologies" directly at the WMI. The seminar is organized by senior PhD students and is specifically designed to prepare Master and PhD students with the crucial skill set to fabricate state-of-the-art quantum devices. For this purpose, the seminar will present lessons on nanofabrication methods such as electron-beam lithography, reactive-ion etching, thin-film deposition as well as related topics such as cryogenics and fiber-to-chip coupling.

01-01-23
Peter Rabl joins WMI as new Scientific Director

Peter Rabl, who previously has been affiliated with the Technical University of Vienna, accepted the appointment on full professorship for Applied Quantum Theory at TUM and as Scientific Director at the WMI/BAdW. He will start in Munich already early in 2023. The professorship is funded with about 1.5 Mio. € with a special program of the High-Tech Agenda Bavaria for the next 4-year period and subsequently jointly financed by TUM and BAdW. Keeping in mind that the program has been announced only in June 2022, the professorship could be filled in record time. We heartly welcome Peter Rabl at WMI as a new Scientific Director.

01-01-23
Lighthouse projects NeQuS and IQSense take up work

The Free State of Bavaria is funding five Lighthouse Projects as part of the Munich Quantum Valley e.V.. The WMI contributes to the 3-year projects Networked Quantum Systems (NeQuS) and Integrated Spin Systems for Quantum Sensors (IQSense), which both start in January 2023. In NeQuS, WMI will investigate new approaches to the networking of quantum systems jointly with colleagues from TUM, LMU and MPQ. The project IQSense will develop and demonstrate integrated quantum sensors for a range of application scenarios, including fast screening methods for biological matter. In this project, WMI joins forces with leading Bavarian groups from TUM, LMU, and the University of Würzburg.

03-12-22
Chain of Office handed over to new BAdW president

After two terms of office, BAdW president Thomas O. Höllmann (right) handed over the Chain of Office to his successor Markus Schwaiger (left) during the Annual Meeting 2022 of the Bavarian Academy of Sciencies and Humanities, taking place at the Herkules Hall of the Munich Residence.

03-12-22
Lasst uns den Quantensprung wagen!

In his ceremonial lecture at the Annual Meeting 2022 of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities in the Herkules Hall of the Munich Residence, Rudolf Gross addresses the pioneering advances in quantum science and technology and their fascinating application potential. "Quantum technologies and the associated quantum revolution will have a strong impact on society in the 21st century", he pointed out and asked the audience to dare the leap into the quantum age.

02-12-22
Succesful PhD defense of Alexei Troshyn

Alexei Troshyn successfully defended his PhD thesis against the examination committee consisting of Rudolf Gross (WMI/TUM), Bernhard Holzapfel (KIT) and Martin Zacharias (TUM, head). In a joint effort of WMI and the company Theva GmbH, Alexei was working on novel low-cost high-speed deposition techniques allowing for the industrial fabrication of more than 100 m long technical conductors based on the high temperature superconductor DyBaCuO. 

22-11-22
Successful PhD defense of Max Werninghaus

On Tuesday, Nov 22,  Max Werninghaus defended his PhD thesis at the WMI. His work in the group of Stefan Filipp focused on the "Experimental Optimal Control of Superconducting Qubits". With optimal control he demonstrated how to decrease the error rates of fast qubit gates and developed techniques to speed up calibration routines. For his excellent results and his deep knowledge of quantum computing he was awarded the grade "summa cum laude". We wish Max all the best in his future career.

15-11-22
Flow of quantum correlations

In a joint research activity with the Nakamura group at the University of Tokyo, WMI studied the behavior of quantum discord and entanglement in two-mode squeezed states generated by superconducting Josephson parametric amplifiers. In our experiments we can show how correlations flow between the two modes and the noisy environment. "We are particularly happy that we can relate our findings to the security of entanglement-based quantum key distribution", Rudolf Gross points out..

15-11-22
Textbook "Festkörperphysik": 4th edition appeared

The textbook on "Festkörperphysik" has been revised and enhanced over many years and meanwhile represents a standard textbook for students. The authors present the full breadth of modern solid-state physics in an understandable and structured fashion while at the same time conveying deeper insights into the historical development of the discipline. Now the 4th edition appeared at De Gruyter Oldenbourg. In the new edition, in particular the chapter on topolgical quantum matter has been updated and extended. 

16-10-22
New UHV PLD-MBE deposition system has arrived

The new UHV PLD-MBE cluster deposition system of DCA Instruments Oy has arrived and is set-up at WMI. The system consisting of an MBE part, a pulsed laser deposition system and a sputtering system connected via a UHV tunnel, is financed via MCQST and designed for the fabrication of complex heterostructures and novel quantum materials. "The system will be of key importance for our materials oriented research," WMI director Rudolf Gross says. "It will be the nucleus and enabling technology for many future research projects", he adds.

14-09-22
HTX delegation visits WMI

WMI director Rudolf Gross welcomed a delegation of HTX Singapore headed by Mr. CHEW Hock Yong, chairman of HTX and Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs, and informed it about quantum-related research activities. HTX is a Science and Technology Agency that brings together science and engineering capabilities across the various Home Team Departments of Singapore. As security issues are a key focus area of HTX, the delegation was particularly impressed by the WMI activities on quantum microwave communication.

30-08-22

We are happy our new paper "Effective nonlocal parity-dependent couplings in qubit chains" has been published in PRResearch: https://journals.aps.org/prresearch/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.033166.
We show how to generate efficient multi-qubit gates by simultaneously coupling qubits on a chain and study applications in the simulation of electrons and in quantum error corrections.

26-08-22
Barbara Goldstein of NIST visits WMI

Rudolf Gross welcomed Barbara Goldstein, who is Associate Director at the Physical Measurement Laboratory of the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Program Manager of NIST on a Chip, at WMI to give her insight into the research program and visions of MQV e.V., MCQST and the TUM Venture Lab Quantum. The meeting with Barbara Goldstein was joined by representatives of Invest in Bavaria and the Munich Start-ups kiutra, Qlibri, and planqc. «I am impressed by the high level of quantum research and efficient networking in the field of quantum science and technology in Munich», she said after lab tours at WMI, MPQ and LRZ. 

18-08-22
Mario Nodes gets master craftsman's certificate

WMI supports members of his technical staff in various further training measures, whenever they help to improve the technical skills required for the versatile work at WMI. «Therefore, we are very happy that Mario Nodes grabbed the opportunity and accepted the additional time and effort to acquire a master craftsman's diploma», WMI director Rudolf Gross points out. «We are particularly happy that we could provide allowance to support this effort, as the versatile skills of the technical staff of WMI are a key prerequisite for our scientific success», he adds. WMI congratulates Mario Nodes and hopes that he can enjoy a long and successful career at WMI.

04-08-22
WMI gets funding for MQV Lighthouse Projects

Basic research projects in quantum science and technology are essential to keep Bavaria's leading role in this field. Therefore, the Free State of Bavaria provides funding for five interdisciplinary Lighthouse Projects with a total budget of about 17 million euros as part of the Munich Quantum Valley (MQV). The projects involve groups of BAdW, MPG and several universities, thereby particularly fostering cross-university collaborations within Bavaria. "We are very happy that WMI can contribute to the ambitious projects NeQuS and IQSense", WMI director Rudolf Gross says, who was strongly supporting the idea of basic research oriented Lighthouse Projects in the application phase of MQV.

21-07-22
Lincoln Carr visits WMI

Lincoln Carr, an expert in quantum science and technology (QST), who has been named a Jefferson Science Fellow with the U.S. State Department, was visiting WMI to inform himself on the Munich QST activities within MQV and MCQST. He presently serves as a foreign affairs officer in the State Department’s Office of Science and Technology Cooperation and discussed possible international collaborations in QST with WMI director Rudolf Gross.

13-07-22
"Goldene Kreide" awarded to Rudolf Gross

During the annual celebration of physics, the student body of the TUM faculty of physics regularly awards the so-called "Golden Chalks" to reward excellent teaching. After already receiving several Golden Chalks in previous years for lectures in the bachelor and master courses, this year Rudolf Gross received a special Golden Chalk to acknowledge his outstanding and continuous engagement in teaching over the past two decades.

21-06-22
Pupils get enthusiastic about physics

WMI scientists regularly make public outreach events for grammar-school pupils either at WMI or at nearby high schools to increase their interest in natural sciences. On 21st June, Matthias Opel was putting his exciting low-temperature show on stage at the Gymnasium Vaterstetten, where Sebastian Bauer - a former WMI master student - is teaching physics. Besides showing the fascinating properties of liquid gases and having fun with low temperature physics, the experiments give the pupils insight into applications of low temperatures in research and technology.

20-06-22
Matthias Althammer receives TUM Supervisory Award

Dr. Matthias Althammer received the Supervisory Award for his excellent mentoring of Ph.D. students at WMI. The selection committee selected him among several suggested candidates. Beyond meeting the typical selection criteria like excellence in leadership, scientific support, education and career development for Ph.D. students, Matthias always succeeds to establish and maintain a friendly work atmosphere stimulating the exchange and development of scientific ideas. We cordially congratulate Matthias Althammer on the recognition of his efforts in suporting Ph.D. students. "As the Scientific Director, I am particular happy that WMI researcher regularly receive best teaching and mentoring awards", Rudolf Gross points out.

10-06-22
New Professorship on Applied Quantum Theory at WMI

The universities in Augsburg, Würzburg, Erlangen-Nuremberg and Munich, as well as the technical universities of applied sciences in Regensburg and Nuremberg, receive around 20 Mio. € for new professorships to further strengthen their profile in quantum sciences and quantum technologies. The program is part of the High-Tech Agenda Bavaria within the Munich Quantum Valley e.V. "We are very happy to get support by a new professorship on Applied Quantum Theory",  WMI Scientific Director Rudolf Gross says. The professorship will be assigned to TUM and jointly appointed by TUM and BAdW.  

03-06-22
Canada-Germany Quantum Technolog Matchmaking Day

From May 30 to June 3, a delegation including representatives of 10 Canadian Quantum SMEs was visiting Germany to develop R&D partnerships. The meeting was jointly organized by the Embassy of Canada, the Munich Quantum Valley e.V. and the Excellence Cluster MCQST.  "It was exciting to meet and partner with Canadian quantum technology leaders and chat with stakeholders of both countries", Rudolf Gross of WMI says. "It was a perfect opportunity to learn about Canadian quantum-technology capabilities and how they could complement our efforts in Munich", he adds.

25-04-22
Minister of State Blume visits BAdW

The Bavarian Minister of State Markus Blume visits BAdW to get information on current research projects related to digitalization and quantum science.
In addition to projects in earth sciences, glacier research, and art history (presented by Hans-Peter Bunge, Christoph Mayer, and Matteo Burioni) Rudolf Gross of WMI and Dieter Kranzlmüller of LRZ were reporting on the activities in the field of quantum science and technology. Rudolf Gross was particularly pointing out the high international level of fundamental research at WMI as well as the relevance of materials science and technological developments for new scientific discoveries and experimental techniques.

11-04-22
Quantum Science meets Gravity

The Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) at Vienna and the Walther-Meißner-Institute (WMI) of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BAdW) at Garching strengthen their already established collaboration, aiming at a long-term collaboration on fundamental questions regarding the interplay of gravitational and quantum physics. On Monday, the 4th April 2022, the partnering groups of Prof. Markus Aspelmeyer and Prof. Rudolf Gross started this joint endeavor at the premises of BAdW with a scientific workshop and lab visits at WMI.

01-04-22
Grand Challenge Quantum Communication

Within the program, which is part of the framework program of the German federal government on IT security, seven projects, including the WMI project QuaMToMe, receive funding for a 3-year period. In his welcome speech the Parliamentary Secretary of State Dr. h.c. Thomas Sattelberger said: We have to work on the future IT security already today. Therefore, by the competition "Grand Challenge in Quantum Communication" the Federal Ministry of Education and Research wants to speed up the development of quantum based techniques. Three teams of the group of Rudolf Gross, led by Nadezhda Kukharchyk, Kirill Fedorov and Hans Huebl, participate in the competion.

30-03-22
New Helium Liquefier successfully installed at WMI

A new helium liquefier of Vorbuchner GmbH has been installed at WMI and taken into operation. The 2.5 Mio.Euro investment secures the future LHe supply of WMI and the two Munich universities. Already the first cool-down has been successful and delivered liquid helium. In the coming weeks there are still several optimization and testing precedures to be performed until the final approval of the machine. However, due to a clever operation concept the parallel operation of the old liquefier is possible in the transition phase guaranteeing a continuous supply with LHe.

03-02-22

Quantum algorithms often benefit from the ability to execute multi-qubit gates. To date such multi-qubit gates are typically decomposed into single- and two-qubit gates, particularly in superconducting qubit architectures. The ability to perform multi-qubit operations in a single step could vastly improve the fidelity and execution time of many algorithms. Here, we propose a single shot method for executing an i-Toffoli gate, a three-qubit gate with two control and one target qubit, using currently existing superconducting hardware and show numerical evidence for a process fidelity over 99.5%.

27-01-22
Munich Quantum Valley e.V. established

Only one year after the declaration of intent by the Bavarian State Government, the Munich Quantum Valley has now been formally established as a registered socity with the ceremonial signing of the foundation charter on the premises of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Complementing the funding from the High-Tech Agenda Bavaria amounting to 300 million euros, the members of the initiative have already raised federal funding of more than 80 million euros.

 

25-01-22
Open Quantum Researcher/Engineer positions (m/f/d)

Building a quantum computer with superconducting qubits is our goal at the WMI and the TUM We are looking for you to strengthen and join our efforts within the Munich Quantum Valley (MQV) and our German quantum computing project MUNIQC-SC.

03-01-22

Switching on and off a well-controlled coupling between circuit parts is essential in quantum technology. We propose a novel tunable coupling scheme consisting of N fixed-frequency qubits. We show that the interaction between two general quantum circuits can be tuned by inserting an ensemble of qubits as a mediator and engineering them in different dark states. Most interestingly, we find that a large qubit ensemble can make the effective interaction even larger than the physical interaction between two adjacent circuit components.

22-12-21
Quantum Teleportation

An international team headed by physicists from the Walther-Meißner-Institute (WMI) and Technical University of Munich (TUM) has, for the first time ever, experimentally implemented quantum teleportation based on propagating microwave signals between distant locations while preserving the fragile quantum nature of teleported states. This key achievement opens the avenue towards distributed quantum computing in networks of superconducting quantum computers. The work has been performed in collaboration with Japanese scientists from the RIKEN Center for Quantum Computing.

Sci. Adv. 7, eabk0891 (2021)
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abk0891

17-11-21
Characterization and Tomography of a Hidden Qubit

In state-of-the-art quantum computing systems, each quantum bit can be individually controlled and measured. Large systems of qubits thus require a large amount of control electronics and signal lines, which are costly resources. One way to increase the number of qubits without also multiplying auxiliary resources is simply to add “hidden” qubits that are not directly controlled or read out. These are operated indirectly, using interactions with their neighboring qubits and do not require a separate control line. In our experiment, we demonstrate full control over a superconducting two-qubit system even though only one of the qubits is directly addressable.

03-11-21
Science outreach

Within the Marie Curie european network QuSCo, our students Federico Roy and Max Werninghaus collaborated with colleagues from various fields to apply optimal control to quantum systems. Over the course of the three-year program, the ESRs were trained in science education and outreach. Check out the playlist on youtube to learn more about how we approach science education!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL27WF9AICrThEi_9ElvmdmJzU5CmvF6fR

10-10-21
WMI Supports the Scientific Program of "FORSCHA"

Discover what moves the world! This was the motto of the Münchener Wissenschaftstage 2021, taking place at the Deutsches Museum Verkehrszentrum from October 08 to 10. Rudolf Gross of WMI supported the scientific program of the event by a public talk on quantum computing and the Excellence Cluster MCQST was informing the public on its research activities at a booth. 

The Münchener Wissenschaftstage offered an adventure trip throught the fascinating world of science and technology. The visitors could get first-hand information on newest developments in science, technology, economy, world of work, education, art and culture. Quantum science and technology was one of the topics attracting the biggest audience, demonstrating the large interest of the public in hightech.

 

01-10-21
Munich Quantum Valley receives funding

The Bavarian State Ministry of Science and Arts annouced funding of 80 Mio. euros for the Munich Quantum Valley (MQV) for 2021-2026. The ambitious goal is to develop the hard- and software for quantum computers. The WMI takes a leading role in the ambitious journey towards the realization of superconducting quantum computers.

"Bavaria aims to take the lead in quantum research and the application of quantum technologies in Germany and Europe", State Minister Bernd Sibler says. By establishing the Munich Quantum Valley, Bavaria will bundle its already outstanding scientific competences in the Munich area and establish a powerful ecosystem joining researchers, engineers, industrial leaders and venture capitalists. This goal will be supported by a matching funding program of the State Ministry of Economics. "Important future technologies and apllications should come from Bavaria. Therefore, the funding for MQV represents an important investment into Bavaria as a leading high-tech region", State Ministery Hubert Aiwanger points out.

14-09-21
WMI bids farewell to Prof. B.S. Chandrasekhar

WMI mourns for Prof. B.S. Chandrasekhar who died on 12th September 2021 at the age of 93. He had been guest professor at WMI since 1988 and contributed to the success of many research projects by his creativity and deep knowledge of physics. We will honor his memory and remember him not only as a great scientist but also as a charming and humorous colleague.

B.S. Chandrasekhar studied physics at the Universities of Mysore and Delhi and received his Ph.D. from the University of Oxford in 1952. He then became research associate at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (1952-54) and visiting scientist at the University of Oxford  (1954-55). In 1955, he joined the Westinghouse Research Labs, where he did his well-known work on the upper critical field of type-II superconductors (Chandrasekhar-Clogston limit, 1962). In 1963, he became professor of physics at the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, where he has also been department chair, dean and vice president. He retired from CWRU in 1988. He also was guest professor at the University of Cambridge (1978), the Tata Institute at Bombay (1980), the ETH Zurich (1980-81) and the WMI (1984-85). After retiring from Case Western Reserve University he joined WMI as a permanent guest researcher in 1988.

08-09-21
Quantum Technology Outreach Event QuantTech

We are hosting a quantum technology event organized by our partners at QuSCo: get to know quantum technology researchers and their work in a casual setting. Chat with quantum researchers and learn about quantum sensing with hands-on tools. The visit will also include brief visits of our quantum computing laboratory, which hosts the latest iterations of WMI-built quantum processing chips. Join us on September 8 at our Institute in Garching, Munich. 

For more information visit the registration site: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdZUDpWaK1JdMJOadV_3W5sZUC_M0rZJ34IlpfnYNWdkJGHpg/viewform.

29-07-21
WMI-Seminar Talk by Matthias Mergenthaler (IBM Research - Zurich) - 10:15am

Title: Effects of surface treatments and UHV packaging on flux tunable transmon qubits

23-07-21
Congratulations to Philipp Krüger

Philipp Krüger of WMI has been awarded a Best Poster Prize for his excellent poster contribution on "Microwave Quantum Key Distribution in a Noisy Environment" presented at the International Conference on Quantum Science & Technology organized by the Excellence Cluster MCQST.

The Best Poster Award has been handed over within the Award Ceremony Session on 23 July 2021 together with a prize money donated by Menlo Systems GmbH.

03-07-21
Obituary for Johneph Sukham †

On July 3, Johneph Sukham died in a tragic accident. We feel great sadness and will miss Johneph as an inspiring colleague and friend. RIP.

13-06-21
Welt der Quanten

There is a tremendous progress in quantum research and the development of quantum technologies, and their application potential is huge. In a focus issue of the journal "Akademie Aktuell" scientists of the Walther-Meißner-Institute explain the present research directions in quantum science and technology. They also discuss the future impact of quantum technology for all of us.

Munich is on of the internationally leading centers for quantum science and technology. This leading position has been further strengthened  by the start of the excellence cluster  Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST) in 2019 and the foundation of the Munich Quantum Valley (MQV) in 2021. The latter will be supported by the Bavarian state government by 300 Mio. Euro. The Walther-Meißner-Institute is one of the key players pushing the dynamic development since almost two decades.

29-03-21

Federico Roy, Nicolas Wittler and Max Werninghaus in a collaboration between Saarland University, IBM Research, Forschungszentrum Jülich and WMI describe how optimal control methods can be used in system characterization to achieve a "Good Model". They outline a new method for Control, Calibration and Characterization (C3) of quantum devices based on the complete understanding of the system and using optimal control. C3 provides us with the tools to achieve this goal and push us further in the quest for high-fidelity quantum devices.

Integrated Tool Set for Control, Calibration, and Characterization of Quantum Devices Applied to Superconducting Qubits
Nicolas Wittler et al., Phys. Rev. Applied 15, 034080 (2021).

12-03-21
Contactless high performance power transmission

A team led by physicists Christoph Utschick and Prof. Rudolf Gross has succeeded in making a coil with superconducting wires capable of transmitting power in the range of more than five kilowatts contactless and with only small losses. The wide field of conceivable applications include autonomous industrial robots, medical equipment, vehicles and even aircraft.

Superconducting Wireless Power Transfer Beyond 5 kW at High Power Density for Industrial Applications and Fast Battery Charging
Christoph Utschick et al., IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. 31, 5500110 (2021)

04-03-21
Munich Quantum Valley Kick-Off

To build a quantum computers that can solve complex scientific and economic problems faster than any supercomputer; to create infrastructures that facilitate technology transfer and the exchange of ideas in the field of quantum sciences; to offer excellent education and training opportunities for the specialists of tomorrow.

Learn more about the Munich Quantum Valley Initiative, about the status quo of quantum technologies in Bavaria and about the future opportunities that will arise for Bavaria through the development of these disruptive technologies: Thursday, 04 March 2021 from 10 am - 12 pm (CET) via livestream on Youtube.

26-02-21
Spin Transport and Current-Induced Torques in Superconductor-Ferromagnet Heterostructures

Researchers of WMI in a collaboration with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology at Trondheim and the University of Konstanz  successfully realized the injection of quasiparticle spin currents into a superconductor (NbN) via spin pumping from an adjacent ferromagnetic metal (Py). Using a phase sensitive detection method they can quantitatively extract the spin current-induced torques. Below Tc, they observe a suppression of the damping-like torque and a large field-like current-induced torque.

Temperature-Dependent Spin Transport and Current-Induced Torques in Superconductor-Ferromagnet Heterostructures
Manuel Müller et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 087201 (2021).

05-02-21
Zeeman Spin-Orbit Coupling and Magnetic Quantum Oscillations in Antiferromagnetic Conductors

Solid-state spin physics arising from spin-orbit coupling is linked to symmetry-protected degeneracies. In an international collaboration researchers of WMI proove that this is also true for Zeeman spin-orbit coupling in antiferromagnetic conductors. They show that the Néel state of the organic conductor κ-(BETS)2FeBr4 shows no spin modulation of the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations, contrary to its paramagnetic state. A comparative study of the electron-doped high Tc superconductor Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4  provides clear evidence for the presence of Néel order even at optimal doping.

Zeeman Spin-Orbit Coupling and Magnetic Quantum Oscillations in Antiferromagnetic Conductors
R. Ramazashvili et al., npj Quantum Mater. 6, 11 (2021).

01-02-21
Speeding up quantum gates

Max Werninghaus and Federico Roy at IBM Research in collaboration with Forschungszentrum Jülich and Walther-Meissner-Institute (WMI) experimentally applied optimal control methods to superconducting qubit pulses and achieve a 7-fold reduction of state leakage and a 3-fold reduction of standard errors for fast control pulses.

Leakage reduction in fast superconducting qubit gates via optimal control
Max Werninghaus et al., npj Quantum Inf. 7, 14 (2021)

29-01-21
Quantum Computing in Germany

Building a quantum processor with novel properties based on superconducting qubits - this is the aim of the four year project GeQCoS ('German Quantum Computer based on Superconducting Qubits') funded by the BMBF that we aim to realize at the WMI (Bavarian Academy of Sciences) in collaboration with Infineon Technologies, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, University of Karlsruhe and Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

11-01-21
Munich Quantum Valley

The Bavarian Academy of Science and Humanities, the Fraunhofer Society, the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science and both Munich Universities LMU and TU Munich join forces to estalish the Munich Quantum Valley to push forward research and innovation in quantum technologies and quantum computing. 

16-12-20
Pseudospin in antiferromagnets

A team of researchers from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BAdW) and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim has discovered an exciting method for controlling spin carried by quantized spin wave excitations in antiferromagnetic insulators.

Observation of Antiferromagnetic Magnon Pseudospin Dynamics and the Hanle Effect
Tobias Wimmer et al.,  Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 247204 (2020).

22-09-20
The Return of the Spin Echo

A team of researchers from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), TU Wien (Vienna University of Technology) and the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities have discovered a remarkable spin echo effect – this effect presents exciting, new opportunities for working with quantum information.

Echo Trains in Pulsed Electron Spin Resonance of a Strongly Coupled Spin Ensemble
S. Weichselbaumer et al., Physical Review Letters 125, 137701 (2020)