The Laboratory of Artificial Quantum Systems (AQS) researchers headed by Professor O. Astafyev joined forces with the Laboratory of Quantum Chains of the Russian Quantum Center (RQS) headed by Professor A. Ustinov and the RAS Institute of Solid State Physics (ISPP) Laboratory of Superconductivity headed by Professor V. Ryazanov to manufacture and test the first superconducting qubit in Russia.
This event can rightly be considered a breakthrough in the field of Russian quantum technology. Contemporary development of such technologies as well as control methods for individual quantum systems provides opportunities for developing radically novel devices and technology based on superconducting elements.
This strategic field has traditionally been represented rather poorly in Russian science. Several Russian organizations joined forces by pooling their human and technological resources in order to make this feasible (MIPT, the RAS ISSP, the RQC, the MISIS National University for Science and Technology, and the Novosibirsk State Technical University). The first operational qubit prototypes have already been manufactured and tested successfully.
Potential application fields
- Quantum computers
- Quantum informatics (absolutely secured transmission of data)
- Quantum electronics devices of anew generation.
- Hybrid quantum systems of various applications (metrology, supersensitive sensors, amplifiers with peak performance, etc.).
The laboratory was created in April 2014 based on the results of an open competition at MIPT that was conducted as part of a program to increase the competitiveness of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.
The purpose of the laboratory is to carry out experimental studies in the field of superconducting quantum circuits. The main objects of interest are superconducting quantum bits (qubits) and circuits based on them. The lab group conducts fundamental research using qubits as artificial atoms to study quantum optics and acoustics. Practical applications are also developing for quantum circuits in quantum computation, modeling, metrology and detection.
This topic is quite young; for the first time the superconducting qubit was demonstrated only in 1999. At the moment of the AQS lab creation there was no experience in creating superconducting qubits in Russia. Thus, in May 2015 the laboratory group became the first in Russia along with the Russian Quantum Center and the Institute of Solid State Physics to produce and measure a superconducting qubit. For this achievement the head of the laboratory Oleg Astafiev with coworkers Valery Ryazanov and Alexei Ustinov were awarded the "Made in Russia" prize.
The laboratory premises were equipped in the Laboratory building of MIPT in the same year. The first results, obtained directly from the AQS lab installation, begun from the mounting and launch of a dilution refrigerator in 2015. The quantum mixing of microwaves on an artificial atom (Nature Communications 8, 1352 (2017)), the quantum interaction between a transmon and an acoustic resonator (is being prepared for publication, arXiv: 1710.06476) were first realized and demonstrated. Other publications of our laboratory you can find here.
In addition to obtaining breakthrough scientific results, the laboratory staff conducts advanced developments in the field of quantum technologies. In July 2016, the project "Creation of information processing technologies based on superconducting qubits" was launched. The Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, The State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM and the Foundation for Advanced Studies signed an agreement on the creation and support of laboratories for the development and practical use of quantum computing technologies. The project is aimed at the formation of scientific and technological backlog in the field of creating quantum computers and systems for quantum modeling of material properties. Within the project, a consortium was formed in which, in addition to the AQS laboratory, there were laboratories MISiS, RCC, ISSP RAS, MSTU, VNIIA and NSTU. The consortium is a joint group, currently possessing four refrigerators and having full access to three technological centers (clean rooms).
The AQS Lab actively participates in the promotion of the results. For example, see here. World experts are invited to participate in the International Conferences on the topic of superconductivity in Russia. In particular, in September 2016 and July 2017, together with the Laboratory of Topological Quantum Phenomena in MIPT Superconductors, the laboratory staff organixed international schools for students at MIPT and Baikal. These activities were supported by the grant of the RSF.
Bachelor and Masters students of MIPT are actively involved in the work on the lab. Dealing with the most advanced and complex problems of modern physics, students acquire valuable experience in nanotechnology fabrication, low-temperature engineering, microwave measurements, electronics, data processing and programming. 8 students and 5 graduate students, taken under our wing - this is our significant contribution to the educational activities of MIPT. In addition, the lab scientists have developed and now conduct the course "Superconducting quantum systems."
