PhD studentship on the development of multi-zone quantum network node (2021)

What you get

• A tax free bursary for living costs for three and a half years.  From October 2021 this is expected to be £15560 per year, rising annually in line with Research Council minimum stipends.
• Fees waived at the UK level for three and a half years.
• A one-off sum of £2000 towards conferences and travel.
• Additional funding to support placements with outside partners for up to 6 months in total may become available.

Type of award

Postgraduate Research

PhD project

The principal challenge in the field is to enhance quantum processing power by scaling up current devices to larger quantum systems. We are pursuing one of the most promising strategies, distributed quantum computation, in which multiple small-scale ion processors are interlinked by exchanging photonic quantum bits via optical fibres. This requires novel ion trap structures that facilitate high-performance quantum computation and a photonic interconnect for networking. To create a high efficiency ion-photon interconnect for networking, we use miniature optical cavities. The Ion Trap Cavity-QED and Molecular Physics group in Sussex has a leading role in this field.

Project:

The aim of this project is to build and operate a compact ion based quantum information processor. It consists of a linear ion trap with several separate trapping regions in which the ions can be loaded, cooled and quantum information processing can be performed. In addition, the structure contains a trapping region in which an optical micro-cavity is employed as a quantum interconnect between different quantum processors. You will be working within the cavity-QED team to setup a novel ion trap cavity system and to explore schemes for quantum networking with such a node. Focus of the exploration will be on high fidelity ion-photon entanglement schemes and quantum information processing.

Skills and training:

An important part of this PhD project is the skills development and training. Local training through lecture courses, transferable skills training modules and practical training in the laboratory will be complemented by SEPNet wide training events. These include workshops and training schools.

Eligibility

Applicants should hold, or expect to hold, an undergraduate degree in physics or engineering at a good final grade, or non-UK equivalent qualifications.  If you are unsure about the equivalence of your qualifications, please contact us at mps-pgrsupport@sussex.ac.uk

This studentship is open to students of all nationalities, but will only cover tuition fees up to the value of the UK home-student fees.  There are additional fees for International students which at present we are unable to fund.  EU nationals with settled or pre-settled status are eligible for the UK fees waiver.

We also welcome applications from fully independently-funded International students interested in our experimental programme.

Deadline

How to apply

Apply online at https://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/phd/apply/log-into-account

Select the PhD in Physics with a September 2021 start date.

State in the Finance & Funding section that you are applying for the STFC EPP studentship no. NQIT/AMO/2020/08, “multi-zone quantum network node”

Be sure to supply all of the required documents, particularly your transcripts and the details of two referees.

 Due to the high volume of applications received, you may only hear from us if your application is successful.

Contact us

If you have practical questions about the progress of your applications or your eligibility, contact Emma Ransley at mps-pgrsupport@sussex.ac.uk

 For academic questions contact the supervisor of this project, Professor Matthias Keller (m.k.keller@sussex.ac.uk)

Timetable

The position will be filled as soon as a suitable candidate is found so early application is advised. 

Interviews of shortlisted candidates will be held in February and March initially and will continue until the position is filled.