Marta Pita Vidal
Faculty of Applied Sciences
Development of nanowire-based fluxonium devices
Before starting her Master’s studies, Marta already knew she wanted to develop a research career at QuTech, the research institute working on the development of quantum computers and a quantum internet. Once there, she soon found out how much is still left to be done before a useful quantum computer can be built. Far from letting this faze her, she considered it a challenge.
Working in the area of quantum computing offered her the perfect combination of fundamental scientific research and interesting technological applications that will have a strong impact on society. Doing experimental research in this area gave her the opportunity to explore fascinating physical phenomena and see the beauty of quantum mechanics with her own eyes. It also allowed her to contribute to the development of quantum machines that will have applications in such areas as pharmacology, environmental sciences and cryptography.
During her graduation project, she worked on the development of a hybrid fluxonium, a device that combines two of the main approaches to quantum computation: superconducting qubits and topological qubits. Now a PhD student at QuTech, she is focusing on the optimization of this hybrid fluxonium in order to use it as a qubit to build a quantum computer. She also aims to use this device as a tool to explore fundamental physical phenomena in nanomaterials, since it makes it possible to examine some of their properties at energy and time scales not accessible with other experimental techniques.
Marta is a very pleasant person: always cheerful and with a positive attitude. In addition to her stellar academic performance, she was very active in all kinds of social and organisational activities.
Graduation committee - Prof.dr.ir. L.P. Kouwenhoven, dr. Angela Kou
Researchers at QuTech are developing the elementary units used to store and process information in a quantum computer, which are called qubits. Marta worked on a hybrid fluxonium, a type of qubit based on the combination of two research fields: circuit quantum electrodynamics and topological condensed matter. The former explores the physics of superconducting quantum circuits patterned on a microchip, while the latter investigates nanostructures with exotic physical properties. A hybrid fluxonium combines the best of each of these disciplines and has excellent properties both as a qubit for quantum computation and as a tool to explore fundamental quantum phenomena in nanomaterials.
