Pierre Desjardins is the cofounder of C12, a Paris-based quantum computing hardware startup that specializes in carbon nanotube-based spin qubits. Notably, Pierre founded the company alongside his twin brother, Mathieu, making them the only twin-led deep-tech startups that we know of! Pierre’s journey is unconventional—he is a rare founder in quantum hardware without a PhD, drawing instead on engineering and entrepreneurial experience. The episode dives into what drew him to quantum computing and the pivotal role COVID-19 played in catalyzing his career shift from consulting to quantum technology.

C12’s Technology and Unique Angle

C12 focuses on developing high-performance qubits using single-wall carbon nanotubes. Unlike companies centered on silicon or germanium spin qubits, C12 fabricates carbon nanotubes, tests them for impurities, and then assembles them on silicon chips as a final step. The team exclusively uses isotopically pure carbon-12 to minimize magnetic and nuclear spin noise, yielding a uniquely clean environment for electron confinement. This yields ultra-low charge noise and enables the company to build highly coherent qubits with remarkable material purity.

Key Technical Innovations

• Spin-Photon Coupling: C12’s system stands out for driving spin qubits using microwave photons, drawing inspiration from superconducting qubit architectures. This enables the implementation of a “quantum bus”—a superconducting interconnect that allows long-range coupling between distant qubits, sidestepping the scaling bottleneck of nearest-neighbor architectures.
• Addressable Qubits: Each carbon nanotube qubit can be tuned on or off the quantum bus by manipulating the double quantum dot confinement, providing flexible connectivity and the ability to maximize coherence in a memory mode.
• Stability and Purity: Pierre emphasizes that C12’s suspended architecture dramatically reduces charge noise and results in exceptional stability, with minimal calibration drift, over years-long measurement campaigns—a stark contrast with many superconducting platforms.

Recent Milestones

C12 celebrated its fifth anniversary and recently demonstrated the first qubit operation on their platform. The company achieved ultra-long coherence times for spin qubits coupled via a quantum bus, publishing these results in *Nature*. The next milestone is demonstrating two-qubit gates mediated by microwave photons—a development that could set a new benchmark for both C12 and the wider quantum computing industry.

Challenges and Outlook

C12’s current focus is scaling up from single-qubit demonstrations to multi-qubit gates with long-range connectivity, a crucial step toward error correction and practical algorithms. Pierre notes the rapid evolution of error-correcting codes, remarking that some codes they are now working on did not exist two years ago. The interview closes with an eye on the race to demonstrate long-distance quantum gates, with Pierre hoping C12 will make industry headlines before larger competitors like IBM.

Notable Quotes

• “The more you dig into this technology, the more you understand why this is just the way to build a quantum computer.”
• “We have the lowest charge noise compared to any kind of spin qubit—this is because of our suspended architecture.”
• “What we introduced is the concept of a quantum bus… really the only way to scale spin qubits.”

Episode Themes

• Entrepreneurship in deep tech without a traditional research background
• Technical deep dive on carbon nanotube spin qubits and quantum bus architecture
• Materials science as the foundation of scalable quantum hardware
• The importance of coherence, noise reduction, and tunable architectures in quantum system design
• The dynamic evolution of error correction and industry competition

Listeners interested in cutting-edge hardware, quantum startup journeys, or the science behind scalable qubit platforms will find this episode essential. Pierre provides unique clarity on why C12’s approach offers both conceptual and practical advantages for the future of quantum computing,

Dr. Eli Levenson-Falk joins Sebastian Hassinger, host of The New Quantum Era to discuss his group’s recent advances in quantum measurement and control, focusing on a new protocol that enables measurements more sensitive than the Ramsey limit. Published in Nature Communications in April 2025, this work demonstrates a coherence stabilized technique that not only enhances sensitivity for quantum sensing but also promises improvements in calibration speed and robustness for superconducting quantum devices and other platforms. The conversation travels from Eli’s origins in physics, through the conceptual challenges of decoherence, to experimental storytelling, and highlights the collaborative foundation underpinning this breakthrough.

Guest Bio
Eli Levenson-Falk is an Associate Professor at USC. He earned his PhD at UC Berkeley with Professor Irfan Siddiqui, and now leads an experimental physics research group working with superconducting devices for quantum information science.

Key Topics

• The new protocol described in the paper: “Beating the Ramsey Limit on Sensing with Deterministic Qubit Control." 
• Beyond the Ramsey measurement: How the team’s technique stabilizes part of the quantum state for enhanced sensitivity—especially for energy level splittings—using continuous, slowly varying microwave control, applicable beyond just superconducting platforms.
•  From playground swings to qubits: Eli explains how the physics of a playground swing inspired his passion for the field and lead to his understanding of the transmon qubit, and why analogies matter for intuition.
•  Quantum decoherence and stabilization: How the method controls the “vector” of a quantum state on the Bloch sphere, dumping decoherence into directions that can be tracked or stabilized, markedly increasing measurement fidelity.
•  Calibration and practical speedup: The protocol achieves greater measurement accuracy in less time or greater accuracy for a given time investment. This has implications for both calibration routines in quantum computers and for direct quantum measurements of fields (e.g., magnetic) or material properties.
•  Applicability: While demonstrated on superconducting transmons, the protocol’s generality means it may bring improved sensitivity to a variety of platforms—though the greatest benefits will be seen where relaxation processes dominate decoherence over dephasing.
•  Collaboration and credit: The protocol was the product of a collaborative effort with theorist Daniel Lidar and his group, also at USC. In Eli's group, Malida Hecht conducted the experiment.

Why It Matters
By breaking through the Ramsey sensitivity limit, this work provides a new tool for both quantum device calibration and quantum sensing. It allows for more accurate and faster frequency calibration within quantum processors, as well as finer detection of small environmental changes—a dual-use development crucial for both scalable quantum computing and sensitive quantum detection technologies.

Episode Highlights

•  Explanation of the “Ramsey limit” in quantum measurement and why surpassing it is significant.
•  Visualization of quantum states using the Bloch sphere, and the importance of stabilizing the equatorial (phase) components for sensitivity.
•  Experimental journey from “plumber” lab work to analytic insights, showing the back-and-forth of theory confronting experiment.
•  Immediate and future impacts, from more efficient calibration in quantum computers to potentially new standards for quantum sensing.
•  Discussion of related and ongoing work, such as improvements to deterministic benchmarking for gate calibration, and the broader applicability to various quantum platforms.

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Assistant Professor Mohammad Mirhosseini (Caltech EE/APh) explains how his group built a mechanical quantum memory that stores microwave-photon quantum states far longer than typical superconducting qubits, and why that matters for hybrid quantum architectures. The discussion covers microwave photons, phonons, optomechanics, coherence versus lifetime (T2 vs. T1), current speed bottlenecks, and implications for quantum transduction and error mechanisms. The discussion centers on a paper from Mirhosseini's paper from December of 2024 titled, “A mechanical quantum memory for microwave photons,” detailing strong coupling between a transmon and a long‑lived nanomechanical oscillator for storage and retrieval of nonclassical states.

Guest

Mohammad Mirhosseini is an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics at Caltech, where his group engineers hybrid superconducting–phononic–photonic systems at millikelvin temperatures for computing, communication, and sensing. He completed his PhD at the University of Rochester’s Institute of Optics and was a postdoc in Oscar Painter’s group at Caltech before starting his lab. His recent team effort demonstrates mechanical oscillators as compact, long‑lived quantum memories integrated with superconducting circuits.

Key topics

• What “microwave photons” are and how qubits emit/absorb single microwave photons in circuit QED analogously to atoms and optical photons.
• Why “memory” is missing in today’s quantum processors and how a dedicated long‑lived storage element can complement fast but dissipative superconducting qubits.
• Optomechanics 101: mapping quantum states between electrical and mechanical degrees of freedom, with phonons as the quantized vibrational excitations.
• T1 vs. T2: demonstrated order‑of‑magnitude gains in lifetime (T1) and more modest current gains in coherence (T2), plus paths to mitigate dephasing.
• Present bottleneck: state conversion between qubit and oscillator is about 100× slower than native superconducting operations, with clear engineering avenues to speed up.
• Quantum transduction: leveraging the same mechanical intermediary to bridge microwave and optical domains for interconnects and networking.
• Two‑level system (TLS) defects: shared decoherence mechanisms across mechanical oscillators and superconducting circuits and why comparing both can illuminate materials limits.

Why it matters

Hybrid architectures that pair fast processors with long‑lived memories are a natural route to scaling, and mechanical oscillators offer lifetimes far exceeding conventional superconducting storage elements while remaining chip‑integrable.. Demonstrating nonclassical state storage and retrieval with strong qubit–mechanics coupling validates mechanical oscillators as practical quantum memories and sets the stage for on‑chip transduction. Overcoming current speed limits and dephasing would lower the overhead for synchronization, buffering, and possibly future fault‑tolerant protocols in superconducting platforms.

Episode highlights

• A clear explanation of microwave photons and how circuit QED lets qubits create and absorb them one by one.
• Mechanical memory concept: store quantum states as phonons in a gigahertz‑frequency nanomechanical oscillator and read them back later.
• Performance today: roughly 10–30× longer T1 than typical superconducting qubits with current T2 gains of a few×, alongside concrete strategies to extend T2.
• Speed trade‑off: present qubit–mechanics state transfer is ~100× slower than native superconducting gates, but device design and coupling improvements are underway.
• Roadmap: tighter coupling for in‑oscillator gates, microwave‑to‑optical conversion via the same mechanics, and probing TLS defects to inform both mechanical and superconducting coherence.

In this episode, host Sebastian Hassinger sits down with Xiaodi Wu, Associate Professor at the University of Maryland, to discuss Wu’s journey through quantum information science, his drive for bridging computer science and physics, and the creation of the quantum programming language SimuQ.

Guest Introduction

• Xiaodi Wu shares his academic path from Tsinghua University (where he studied mathematics and physics) to a PhD at the University of Michigan, followed by postdoctoral work at MIT and a position at the University of Oregon, before joining the University of Maryland.
• The conversation highlights Wu’s formative experiences, early fascination with quantum complexity, and the impact of mentors like Andy Yao.

Quantum Computing: Theory Meets Practice

• Wu discusses his desire to blend theoretical computer science with physics, leading to pioneering work in quantum complexity theory and device-independent quantum cryptography.
• He reflects on the challenges and benefits of interdisciplinary research, and the importance of historical context in guiding modern quantum technology development.

Programming Languages and Human Factors

• The episode delves into Wu’s transition from theory to practical tools, emphasizing the major role of human factors and software correctness in building reliable quantum software.
• Wu identifies the value of drawing inspiration from classical programming languages like FORTRAN and SIMULA—and points out that quantum software must prioritize usability and debugging, not just elegant algorithms.

SimiQ: Hamiltonian-Based Quantum Abstraction

• Wu introduces SimuQ, a new quantum programming language designed to treat Hamiltonian evolution as a first-class abstraction, akin to how floating-point arithmetic is fundamental in classical computing.
• SimiQ enables users to specify Hamiltonian models directly and compiles them to both gate-based and analog/pulse-level quantum devices (including IBM, AWS Braket, and D-Wave backends).
• The language aims to make quantum simulation and continuous-variable problems more accessible, and serves as a test bed for new quantum software abstractions.

Analog vs. Digital in Quantum Computing

• Wu and Hassinger explore the analog/digital divide in quantum hardware, examining how SimuQ leverages the strengths of both by focusing on higher-level abstractions (Hamiltonians) that fit natural use cases like quantum simulation and dynamic systems.

Practical Applications and Vision

• The conversation highlights targeted domains for SimuQ, such as quantum chemistry, physics simulation, and machine learning algorithms that benefit from continuous-variable modeling.
• Wu discusses his vision for developer-friendly quantum tools, drawing parallels to the evolution of classical programming and the value of reusable abstractions for future advancements. 

Listen to The New Quantum Era podcast for more interviews with leaders in quantum computing, software development, and scientific research.

Host Sebastian Hassinger interviews Alexandre Blais, professor of physics at the Universite de Sherbrooke and scientific director of the Insitut Quantique. Alexandre discusses his academic journey, starting from his master's and PhD work in Sherbrooke, his move to Yale, and his collaborations with both theorists and experimentalists. He outlines the development of circuit QED (quantum electrodynamics) and its foundational role in the modern superconducting qubit landscape. Blais emphasizes the interplay between fundamental physics and technological progress in quantum computing, highlighting both academic contributions and partnerships with industry. He also describes the evolution and mission of Institut Quantique, stressing its role in bridging academia and the quantum industry by training talent and fostering startups in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Finally, Blais reflects on the dual promise of quantum computing—as a tool for scientific discovery and as a long-term commercial technology.

Key Themes and Points

1. Early Career and Path into Quantum Computing

• Alexandre Blais began his quantum computing journey during his master’s at Sherbrooke, inspired by a popular science article by Serge Haroche that laid out the argument for why quantum computers would never work.
• He pursued quantum studies at Sherbrooke despite a lack of local experts, showing early initiative and risk-taking.

2. Transition to Yale and Circuit QED

• Blais joined Yale for his postdoc, attracted by the strong theory–experiment collaboration.
• The Yale group pioneered "circuit QED," adapting ideas from cavity QED (single atoms in magnetic cavities) to superconducting circuits, enabling new ways to read out and control qubits.
• Circuit QED became the backbone of superconducting qubit technology, notably enabling the transmon qubit (now a dominant architecture).
• Collaborated with figures like prior guests of the podcast Steve Girvin and Rob Schoelkopf, and was a postdoc along with Jay Gambetta and Andreas Wallraff.

3. Superconducting Qubits and Research Focus

• Most of Blais’s work has centered on superconducting qubits, particularly on understanding and extending coherence times, reducing errors, and improving fabrication/design.
• Emphasizes the complex, nonlinear, and rich physics even of single-qubit systems (e.g., challenges of dispersive readout and unexpected phenomena like multiphoton resonances).
• Notes the continuing importance of deep, fundamental research despite growing industrial and engineering focus.

4. Role of Academia vs. Industry

• Growth of corporate investment (Google, IBM, Amazon, Intel) has changed the landscape.
• Blais argues that universities should focus on pushing the scientific frontier and training talent, not on building commercial-scale quantum computers.
• Academic groups can pursue high-risk, high-reward research and deeper understanding of quantum technology’s physical underpinnings.

5. Institut Quantique and Quebec’s Quantum Ecosystem

• Blais leads Institut Quantique, which supports both basic and applied quantum research and has been highly successful in fostering a local quantum startup ecosystem (e.g., SBQuantum, NordQuantique, Qubic).
• Offers entrepreneurship courses and significant seed grants (even to students and postdocs) to encourage talent retention and company creation in Sherbrooke.
• Partnership between academia, startups, and public investment has attracted international players like Pasqal and IBM, establishing Sherbrooke as a quantum technology hub.

6. Societal and Philosophical Reflections

• Fundamental challenge: making increasingly large quantum systems remain quantum despite Bohr’s assertion, via the Correspondence principle, that as a quantum system scales it will become classical.
• Quantum computers are not only future commercial tools—they are already invaluable scientific instruments, enabling new physics via experimental control of complex quantum systems.
• Blais is optimistic about quantum computing’s potential for both discovery and eventual large-scale applications.

Main Takeaways

• Building quantum computers is both a technological and fundamental scientific challenge. Even with commercial interest, deep physical understanding is essential—academic research remains vital.
• Close collaboration between theorists and experimentalists breeds breakthrough advances. Circuit QED exemplifies this synergy.
• Quantum research institutes can seed thriving tech ecosystems, if they focus on both talent training and supporting spinouts, as shown by Institut Quantique in Sherbrooke.
• Quantum computing’s greatest early impacts will likely be as scientific instruments, enabling novel experiments and discoveries, before large-scale commercial utility is achieved.
• Quantum hardware’s development continually reveals new, subtle physics; e.g., the decades-long puzzle of dispersive readout reflects the complexity inherent in scaling up quantum technology.

Notable Quotes

•  “Quantum computers will, before being commercially useful, be fantastic tools for discoveries.”
•  “What we’re trying to do is go against that very fundamental principle—we’re trying to build a bigger and bigger system that behaves ever more quantum.”
•  “There is real power in mixing theory and experiment when tackling the challenges of quantum technology.”

Listeners will enjoy a blend of scientific storytelling, personal insight, and a blueprint for building world-class quantum research hubs that advance both discovery and innovation.

In this episode, Sebastian Hassinger sits down with Bert de Jong, a leading computational chemist and Director of the Quantum Systems Accelerator at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. They explore Bert’s journey from high-performance classical computing to the front lines of quantum research, his vision for the future of the U.S. National Quantum Initiative (NQI) center he leads, and the scientific and engineering challenges that will define the next era of quantum computing.

Key Topics Covered

• Career Arc: Bert reflects on his 27-year career in the national lab system, moving from classical computational chemistry and HPC to becoming a leader in quantum computing research and center management.
• Genesis of Quantum Focus: He describes his pivot to quantum in 2014, prompted by the scaling limitations of classical simulations and the promise of quantum systems to tackle “bigger and bigger” problems.
• Role of National Labs and NQI: Discussion of the U.S. National Quantum Initiative and the unique positioning of national labs in driving foundational science and cross-sector collaboration through centers like QSA.
• QSA’s Multimodal Approach: Insight into QSA’s decision not to “choose a lane,” advancing superconducting qubits, trapped ions, and neutral atoms in parallel, and the unique innovations—like integrated photonics—enabled by this breadth.
• Neutral Atom Milestones: Highlights the rapid progress in neutral atom systems (including work with QuEra and Misha Lukin), and the looming advent of devices with dozens of logical qubits and error correction.
• Logical Qubits and Error Correction: Bert explains how all quantum modalities are advancing toward error-corrected logical qubits, and why 100-logical-qubit prototypes are a realistic five-year goal.
• Scientific Impact: A discussion of what constitutes “quantum (scientific) advantage,” and why Bert believes that chemistry, materials science, high-energy, and nuclear physics will be the first domains to benefit from quantum systems unavailable to classical computing.
• Balancing Science and Engineering: Exploration of the transition from fundamental scientific challenges to applied engineering problems as quantum hardware matures—touching on device manufacturing, integrated photonics, and the symbiosis between national labs and industry partners.
• Quantum Software Innovation: Bert’s perspective on bridging researcher expertise with usable tools, including his work on open-source quantum compilers (e.g., BQSKit/biscuit) and the importance of diverse, in- terdisciplinary teams.
• Looking Ahead: Bert’s vision for the next five years: transitioning quantum from promise to prototypes that deliver real scientific results, and solidifying a collaborative ecosystem across labs, universities, and industry.

Notable Quotes

• “HPC, quantum, and AI are all just tools—what matters is how we use them to solve real science problems.”
• “We’re at the point where error-corrected quantum prototypes with 100 logical qubits and high fidelity could deliver a true scientific advantage within five years.”
• “National labs bring together deep science, advanced engineering, and a culture of collaboration that’s essential at this stage of quantum’s development.”
• “Quantum advantage isn’t a buzzword for us—it’s about doing science that can’t be done any other way.”

Episode Highlights

• Bert’s transition from classical to quantum and the pivotal role of DOE research centers.
• How QSA’s cross-modality approach both accelerates hardware and fosters cross-institutional partnerships.
• A preview of upcoming neutral-atom milestones and why industry is watching closely.
• The importance of open standards and software that supports a rapidly diversifying hardware landscape.
• The public sector’s role in driving “over the horizon” technology, derisking pathways beyond what private startups can take on alone.
• Ambitious, concrete goals for the next five years: prototype quantum systems delivering early scientific wins, not just more research papers.

If you enjoy deep dives into the intersection of science, engineering, and the future of

quantum technology, subscribe and share The New Quantum Era.

Episode Overview

Join Sebastian Hassinger in conversation with Deeya Viradia, a Gen Z voice and rising researcher in the quantum computing field. Deeya discusses her multifaceted journey—from early inspiration and undergraduate research to hackathons, quantum clubs, and her ambitions in commercialization. This episode is packed with resources, perspectives on education, and advice for newcomers in quantum technology.

Key Topics & Highlights

Deeya’s Quantum Origin Story

• Inspired by curiosity and early science exposure—especially an episode of "Martha Speaks" with Neil deGrasse Tyson—which led to an ongoing passion for exploring the unknown, from astronomy to quantum computing.
• Found her quantum footing through engineering physics at UC Berkeley and participation in the IBM Qiskit Summer School.

Building a Quantum Resume

• Gained diverse hands-on experience with UC Berkeley’s Quantum Devices Group, SLAC (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center), the DoD Quantum Entanglement and Space Technologies (QuEST) Lab, and multiple quantum hackathons (MIT iQuHack Hack, Yale's Y Quantum).
• Emphasizes the breadth of opportunity for undergraduates—advocates for involvement in hackathons and clubs, even without prior quantum experience.

Theory vs. Experiment, and Academia vs. Industry

• Challenges traditional boundaries, advocating for integration: understanding both the experimental physics and the theoretical/algorithmic sides of quantum.
• Describes work at SLAC: optimizing readout for superconducting qubits, working with dilution fridges, and collaborating across national labs and Stanford.

Student Community & Entrepreneurial Drive

• Founded Q-BIT at Berkeley, a club focused on quantum computing applications and industry connections.
• Active in Berkeley’s entrepreneurship community, driven to explore how quantum research moves from lab to commercial product.

Commercialization and the Future of Quantum

• Discusses the uncertain but promising path to quantum’s economic value, highlighting interdisciplinary collaboration, communication, and cross-sector engagement.
• Strong advocate for students and non-technical communities alike to take risks, reach out, and jump into the field—because quantum needs diverse perspectives and no one knows exactly where it’s headed!

Resources Mentioned

• IBM Quantum education resources
• IBM Quantum blog - where the summer camp will be announced
• MIT iQuHack
• Yale’s Y Quantum
• Unitary Foundation
• Q-Ctrl Black Opal
• Q-BIT at Berkeley
• Qubit by Qubit
• National Q-12 Education Partnership 
• IEEE Quantum Week
• UC Berkeley Quantum Devices Group
• SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
• Entrepreneurs @ Berkeley

Host: Sebastian Hassinger
Guest: Andrew Dzurak (CEO, Diraq)

In this enlightening episode, Sebastian Hassinger interviews Professor Andrew Dzurak. Andrew is the CEO and co-founder of Diraq and concurrently a Scientia Professor in Quantum Engineering at UNSW Sydney, an ARC Laureate Fellow and a Member of the Executive Board of the Sydney Quantum Academy. Diraq is a quantum computing startup pioneering silicon spin qubits, based in Australia. The discussion delves into the technical foundations, manufacturing breakthroughs, scalability, and future roadmap of silicon-based quantum computers—all with an industrial and commercial focus.

Key Topics and Insights

1. What Sets Diraq Apart

• Diraq’s quantum computers use silicon spin qubits, differing from the industry’s more familiar modalities like superconducting, trapped ion, or neutral atom qubits.
• Their technology leverages quantum dots—tiny regions where electrons are trapped within modified silicon transistors. The quantum information is encoded in the spin direction of these trapped electrons—a method with roots stretching over two decades1.

2. Manufacturing & Scalability

• Diraq modifies standard CMOS transistors, making qubits that are tens of nanometers in size, compared to the much larger superconducting devices. This means millions of qubits can fit on a single chip.
• The company recently demonstrated high-fidelity qubit manufacturing on standard 300mm wafers at commercial foundries (GlobalFoundries, IMEC), matching or surpassing previous experimental results—all fidelity metrics above 99%.

3. Architectural Innovations

• Diraq’s chips integrate both quantum and conventional classical electronics side by side, using standard silicon design toolchains like Cadence. This enables leveraging existing chip design and manufacturing expertise, speeding progress towards scalable quantum chips.
• Movement of electrons (and thus qubits) across the chip uses CMOS bucket-brigade techniques, similar to charge-coupled devices. This means fast (

4. Cryogenic Operation

• Diraq’s qubits run at around 1 Kelvin, much warmer than superconducting qubits (which require millikelvin temperatures). This enables integration of classical CMOS control electronics at the same temperature layer, avoiding the wiring and cooling challenges typical in superconducting systems1.

5. Error Correction & Control

• Diraq aims for native error correction schemes adapted to their modular, but not fully 2D-grid, architecture.
• Error correction controllers (CPUs, GPUs, ASICs, FPGAs) will sit outside the fridge but integrated tightly with the quantum module, with exact architectures still under consideration.

6. Roadmap and Commercialization

• Diraq is targeting a first product release during the first half of 2029: a fully integrated quantum computer module with thousands of physical qubits, enough logical qubits for meaningful problems beyond classical supercomputing.
• Near-term (100–200 qubit) systems will be available in limited cases to select partners and governmental organizations, but the focus is on large-scale, commercially relevant systems.

7. Vision for Quantum Data Centers

• Dzurak envisions thousands of quantum processors integrated into conventional data centers, providing affordable and compact quantum computing alongside AI and HPC for applications such as drug design, materials discovery, and more.

Notable Quotes

"We've designed now a system that will go to many millions of qubits that can sit inside one single refrigeration unit, pretty much the size of a rack in a data center." — Andrew Dzurak

"If we want quantum computing to be ubiquitous ... there are going to need to be thousands of quantum computers ... integrated with high-performance computing, GPUs, and so on." — Andrew Dzurak

Episode Takeaways

• Leveraging existing silicon manufacturing and design expertise offers a promising pathway to mass adoption.
• Quantum computing at scale requires not just clever physics, but robust industrial engineering and integration with classical technologies.
• Watch for Diraq’s commercial debut of thousands-of-qubit systems by 2029, poised to play a role in future quantum-enabled data centers.

For further episodes and details, visit www.newquantumera.com or follow on Bluesky @newquantumera.com.

This episode of The New Quantum Era podcast, your host, Sebastian Hassinger, has a conversation with Dr. Charlotte Bøttcher, Assistant Professor, Stanford University. Dr. Bøttcher is an experimental physicist working with superconducting quantum devices, and shares with us her areas of focus and perspective on this critical area of materials research for quantum information science and technology.

Episode Highlights

• Meet Dr. Charlotte Bøttcher: Dr. Bøttcher shares her journey from Harvard (PhD) and Yale (postdoc with Michel Devoret) to launching her own experimental quantum materials group at Stanford. She discusses the excitement (and challenges) of building a new research lab from scratch.
• Hybrid Quantum Material Systems: The heart of the conversation centers on hybrid systems combining superconductors (aluminum) with semiconductors (indium arsenide). These materials pave the way for:
  • Tunable and switchable superconductivity—the foundation for switchable quantum devices and potential advances in quantum information technology.
  • Probing unconventional and topological superconductors, with implications for fundamental physics and exotic quantum states.
• Applications in Quantum Computing:
  • Superconductivity plays a crucial role not only in qubits themselves but also in creating tunable couplers between qubits, allowing for controlled entanglement and reduced crosstalk.
  • High-Tc superconductors (those with high critical temperatures) are discussed, including their complex, often disordered behavior—and their challenges and potential in qubit applications.
• Quantum Simulation and Sensing: Dr. Bøttcher describes her group’s efforts to use devices for simulating complex many-body quantum systems, including both bosonic and fermionic Hamiltonians. Quantum devices are also used for quantum sensing—detecting magnetic fields, charge, or collective modes in exotic materials (such as uranium-based superconductors).
• Controlling Disorder: The episode explores how adjusting electron carrier density can expose or screen disorder in materials, enabling the study of its effects on quantum properties.
• Building a New Lab: Charlotte highlights the rewarding process of establishing her own experimental lab and mentoring the next generation of quantum scientists.
• Fundamental Science vs. Application: Dr. Bøttcher emphasizes the synergy between foundational quantum research and technological development—the pursuit of basic understanding feeds directly into better qubits and devices, which in turn open new avenues for exploring quantum phenomena.
• Future Directions: Looking ahead, her group aims to develop new superconducting qubits capable of operating at higher temperatures and frequencies, expand their quantum simulation platforms, and continue collaborations with Yale and others. The quest for phenomena like Majorana fermions and the exploration of topological phases remain part of her group’s broader experimental frontier.

Key Quotes
“Combining superconductors and semiconductors gives us not just new functionality for quantum technology but also lets us explore fundamental questions about exotic states of matter.” – Charlotte Bøttcher
“Building a lab from scratch is a lot of work, but every day is exciting. Working with students and starting new experiments is incredibly rewarding.” – Charlotte Bøttcher

Tune in for a deep dive into hybrid materials, quantum simulation, and the inner workings of a cutting-edge quantum materials lab at Stanford!
For more episodes: Visit newquantumera.com

Thanks to the American Physical Society (APS) for supporting this episode.

In this episode of The New Quantum Era, host Sebastian Hassinger sits down with Dr. Mark Saffman, a leading expert in atomic physics and quantum information science. As a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Chief Scientist at Infleqtion (formerly ColdQuanta), Mark is at the forefront of developing neutral atom quantum computing platforms using Rydberg atom arrays. The conversation explores the past, present, and future of neutral atom quantum computing, its scalability, technological challenges, and opportunities for hybrid quantum systems.

Key Topics

• Evolution of Neutral Atom Quantum Computing
  The history and development of Rydberg atom arrays, key technological breakthroughs, and the trajectory from early experiments to today’s platforms capable of large-scale qubit arrays.
• Gate Fidelity and Scalability
  Advances in gate fidelity, challenges in reducing laser noise, and the inherent scalability advantages of the neutral atom platform.
• Error Correction and Logical Qubits
  Discussion of error detection/correction, logical qubit implementation, code distances, and the engineering required for repeated error correction in neutral atom systems.
• Synergy Between Academia and Industry
  The interplay between curiosity-driven university research and focused engineering efforts at Infleqtion, including the collaborative benefits of cross-pollination.
• Hybrid Quantum Systems and Future Directions
  Potential for integrating different modalities, including hybrid systems, quantum communication, and quantum sensors, as well as modularity in scaling quantum processors.

Key Insights

• Neutral atom arrays have achieved remarkable scalability, with demonstrations of arrays containing thousands of atomic qubits—well-positioned for large-scale quantum computing compared to other modalities.
• Advancements in laser technology and gate protocols have been crucial for improving gate fidelities, moving from early diode lasers to more stabilized, lower noise systems.
• Engineering challenges remain, such as atom loss, measurement speed, and the need for technologies enabling fast, high-degree-of-freedom optical reconfiguration.
• Logical qubit implementation is advancing, but practical, repeated rounds of error correction and syndrome measurement are required for fault-tolerant computing.
• Collaboration between university and industry labs accelerates both foundational understanding and the translation of discoveries into real-world devices.

Notable Quotes

1. “One of the exciting things about the Neutral Atom platform is that this is perhaps the most scalable platform that exists.”
2. “Atoms make fantastic qubits — they’re nature’s qubits, all identical, excellent coherence… but they do have some sort of annoying features. They don’t stick around forever. We have atom loss.”
3. “Our wiring is not electronic printed circuits, it’s laser beams propagating in space… That’s great because it’s reconfigurable in real time.”

About the Guest

Mark Saffman is a Professor of Physics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Chief Scientist at Infleqtion, a company leading the commercial development of quantum technology platforms using neutral atoms. Mark is recognized for his pioneering work on Rydberg atom arrays, quantum logic gates, and advancing scalable quantum processors. His interdisciplinary experience bridges fundamental science and quantum tech commercialization.

Keywords: quantum computing, Rydberg atoms, neutral atom arrays, Mark Saffman, Infleqtion, gate fidelity, scalability, quantum error correction, logical qubits, hybrid quantum systems, laser cooling, quantum communication, quantum sensors, quantum advantage, optical links, atomic physics, quantum technology, academic-industry collaboration.

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