Hybrid Quantum Systems: Connecting Spins and Photons

by Prof. Jorg Schmiedmayer (Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology & TU-Wien, Vienna, Austria)

Friday 10 Apr 2026, 10:30 → 11:30 Asia/Shanghai

Tsung-Dao Lee Institute/N6F-N600 - Lecture Room (Tsung-Dao Lee Institute)

Host: Prof. Hong Ding  

Venue: TDLI Meeting Room N600

Tencent Meeting link: https://meeting.tencent.com/dm/nmJRVM5xayKa

Meeting ID: 768670029, no password

 

Abstract:

Many quantum technology applications demand properties that are impossible to realize within a single physical platform. Hybrid quantum systems offer a powerful solution: by combining complementary components, their strengths can be pooled and their weaknesses mutually compensated. In this talk, I will explore hybrid platforms connecting flying qubits (photons) and stationary qubits (spins), focusing on spin ensembles coupled to microwave photons in superconducting circuits.

Starting from the first demonstration of strong coupling between nitrogen-vacancy (NV) spin ensembles in diamond and superconducting microwave cavities, I will show how this platform enables rich quantum optical phenomena — from protecting collective spin states against decoherence, to spectral hole burning for coherence engineering in microwave photonics, to understanding the fundamental spin lifetime limits set by phononic vacuum modes. Collective coupling also gives rise to superradiance, and I will briefly discuss our journey from the first observation of superradiant emission in NV ensembles to the recent discovery of self-induced superradiant masing, driven by many-body spin-spin interactions.

As an outlook, I will present a radical new platform: atomic impurities embedded in noble gas quantum solids grown directly on superconducting cavities. Recent experiments demonstrate strong coupling of sodium atoms in a neon crystal to a superconducting circuit, opening a path toward coherent coupling of a single spin defect to a superconducting resonator.

 

Biography:

Jörg Schmiedmayer is a Professor of Experimental Physics at the Faculty of Physics at the TU-Wien, Vienna, Austria. He was a founding member of the Vienna Centre for Quantum Science and Technology. Schmiedmayer is one of the pioneers of matter wave interferometry and quantum simulation science. His invention of micro traps for neutral atoms and the AtomChip triggered a new field of research, micro-manipulation of atoms, ions and molecules. His research on non-equilibrium evolution and relaxation started a new direction in many body quantum science and continues to inspire new research directions worldwide. His detailed analysis of correlations in many body quantum systems started a new field in quantum information science: quantum simulation of quantum field theories and emerging quantum simulators which have to be contrasted with simple building the hamiltonian directly in the lab as in Hubbard models. He is a recipient of several prestigious grants and awards, including the Wittgenstein Prize. He is full member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.