25 September 2025 | Tutorial @ 9 AM - 10:20 AM, Open Session
Jarvis Auditorium, Grimes Engineering Center (First Floor)
Alp Sipahigil
Assistant Professor, Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences
University of California, Berkeley
Quantum Computing with Superconducting Circuits (and how MEMS might help scale them)
Abstract
In this tutorial, I will provide an introduction quantum computing hardware based on superconducting electronics. I will discuss (i) how to construct quantum bits and gates based on nonlinear, low-loss superconducting circuit components, (ii) requirements for the classical control and readout of the processors, and (iii) cryogenic requirements to operate superconducting quantum computers.
In the second half, I will highlight how nanoscale electromechanical systems operating at gigahertz frequencies are helping advance superconducting quantum hardware. Examples include memory elements based on nanomechanical resonators with quality factors exceeding billions, superconducting qubits with increased coherence via mechanical metamaterials, and piezooptomechanical transducers for optical interconnects.
Biography
BSAC Co-Director Alp Sipahigil is the Ping & Amy Chao Family Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley. He has joint appointments as a Faculty Scientist at the Materials Sciences Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a supporting appointment at UC Berkeley Physics.
He leads the Berkeley Quantum Devices Group which focuses on solid-state device research to advance quantum computation, communication and sensing. His group studies a wide range of physical systems including superconducting quantum circuits, color centers, integrated photonics and phononics.
Prior to joining Berkeley in 2021, he was an Institute for Quantum Information and Matter postdoctoral scholar at Caltech. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from Harvard University in 2017 and his B.S. degrees in Physics and Electrical Engineering from Bogazici University in 2010.