Postdoc in Materials and circuit architectures

Join us if you have expertise in device fabrication and characterization techniques and want to work in a world-class cleanroom. We are looking for a highly motivated postdoc to collaborate with colleagues in ongoing research to build quantum computers. 

Project description
The reduction of quantum gate errors represents the most important problem in the development of quantum computers in any technological platform. By this metric, superconducting qubits constitute a leading platform, with the best demonstrated two-qubit gate errors currently at the 0.1-0.2% level. Meaningful quantum computing requires that these errors be reduced to 0.01% in a scalable and reliable way across the multi-qubit chip. These gate errors are limited by decoherence and by systematic control errors, which we address in this postdoc project.

Information about the division and the department
The Quantum Technology (QT) division at Chalmers University conducts research in quantum information science, towards a goal of building a 100-qubit, superconducting quantum computer by 2025. As a team member, you will be part of the most exciting things happening in this field within the Wallenberg Centre for Quantum Technology (WACQT) in Sweden and OpenSuperQ within the EU Flagship on Quantum Technology.

Major responsibilities
Dielectric loss is the currently dominant decoherence mechanism in superconducting qubits (Burnett 2019). Other important contributions to decoherence originate from phonons and quasiparticles. What we propose is a systematic study of decoherence at the level of the physics of the constituent materials. This study would involve theoretical modeling of the loss at the surfaces and interfaces, characterization of the superconducting films and substrates, as well as exploring different superconducting films such as niobium and tantalum. We foresee that this effort will drastically improve our understanding of the microscopic mechanisms of decoherence and their effect on devices, which will directly help improve the design and process development of our devices already during the project.

We will build on recent work by the Chalmers group on the experimental characterization and numerical modeling of the same (Burnett 2019, Niepce 2020).
- J. J. Burnett et int. J. Bylander (2019) Decoherence benchmarking of superconducting qubits, npj Quantum Inf. 5, 54
- D. Niepce et int. J. Bylander (2020) Geometric scaling of two-level-system loss in superconducting resonators, Supercond. Sci. Technol. 33 025013
- A. Osman et int. J. Bylander, A. Fadavi Roudsari (2021) Simplified Josephson-junction fabrication process for reproducibly high-performance superconducting qubits,
Appl. Phys. Lett. 118, 064002 

Qualifications
o You have a PhD in Physics, Applied Physics, Nanotechnology, or equivalent.
o You have expertise in device fabrication and characterization techniques.
o You are interested in building quantum computers.
o Your verbal and written communication skills in English are very good. Swedish is not a requirement but Chalmers offers Swedish courses.
o You are motivated for a career in quantum technology, be it in academia or at an institute or company.
o You have a collaborative attitude and an interest in working both independently and collaboratively in a team environment, sharing best practices and assuming responsibility.
o You are self-motivated, pay attention to detail, and possess a problem-solving analytical ability.
o You are willing to help supervise PhD students.
o You hold a doctoral degree awarded no more than three years prior to the application deadline.

Contract terms
This postdoc position is a full-time temporary employment for 2+1+1 years.

We offer
Chalmers offers a cultivating and inspiring working environment in the coastal city of Gothenburg. 
Read more about working at Chalmers and our benefits for employees.

Chalmers aims to actively improve our gender balance. We work broadly with equality projects, for example the GENIE Initiative on gender equality for excellence. Equality and diversity are substantial foundations in all activities at Chalmers.

Application procedure
The application should be marked with Ref 20220658 and written in English. The application should be sent electronically and be attached as PDF-files, as below. Maximum size for each file is 40 MB. Please note that the system does not support Zip files.

CV: (Please name the document as: CV, Surname, Ref. number) including:
• CV, include complete list of publications. Add weblinks to your best publications or preprints and your thesis, if available.
• Previous teaching and pedagogical experiences
• Two references that we can contact.

Personal letter: (Please name the document as: Personal letter, Family name, Ref. number)
1-3 pages where you:
• Introduce yourself
• Describe your previous research fields and main research results
• Describe your future goals and future research focus

Other documents:
• Attested copies of completed education, grades and other certificates.
• Contact information of at least one reference person.

Use the button at the foot of the page to reach the application form.

Application deadline: 06-01-2023

For questions, please contact:
Assoc. Prof. Jonas Bylander, MC2/QT
E-mail: jonas.bylander@chalmers.se
Phone: +46 31 772 51 32

Dr. Anita Fadavi Roudsari, MC2/QT
E-mail: fadavi@chalmers.se
Phone: +46 31 772 14 18


*** Chalmers declines to consider all offers of further announcement publishing or other types of support for the recruiting process in connection with this position. ***