Blatt advanced trapped-ion quantum computing through experiments on entanglement and coherent control, and helped take the Innsbruck approach into commercial hardware through AQT.
IQOQI Innsbruck, Austrian Academy of SciencesarXiv / Physical Review LettersAlpine Quantum TechnologiesBlatt’s career connects precise atomic control with the challenge of assembling a quantum computer. The Innsbruck team’s creation of large entangled ion states demonstrated coordinated control while exposing how correlated noise grows with system size. His cofounding of Alpine Quantum Technologies then linked that laboratory expertise to a company building trapped-ion systems for users beyond the original research group. The common thread is engineering quantum information with individually controlled ions. His current institutional identification is emeritus research director, and team results are credited as collaborations throughout this profile.
IQOQI Innsbruck, Austrian Academy of SciencesarXiv / Physical Review LettersAlpine Quantum TechnologiesDefining contributions
Work, in context- 2011
Creating and characterizing 14-qubit entanglement
Blatt coauthored the experiment reporting Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger states of up to 14 qubits. The team also measured the coherence of smaller ion ensembles and studied the effect of correlated phase noise, linking a control milestone to a concrete limitation relevant to scaling.
Rainer Blatt was a coauthor of the experiment led in authorship by Thomas Monz and collaborators.
Source-supported recordarXiv / Physical Review Letters - 2018
Cofounding Alpine Quantum Technologies
Blatt, Thomas Monz and Peter Zoller founded AQT in February 2018 as an Innsbruck spin-off developing commercial trapped-ion quantum computers. This extends the computing contribution from laboratory demonstrations to the organization and delivery of systems for external research and computing environments.
Joint company founding by Rainer Blatt, Thomas Monz and Peter Zoller; systems development is a company-team contribution.
Source-supported recordAlpine Quantum Technologies
Follow the evidence
3 sourcesPrimary papers, institutional records and attributed announcements. Each source supports the claims linked above.
- IQOQI Innsbruck, Austrian Academy of SciencesInstitutional profile
Rainer Blatt
Current emeritus research director and Innsbruck research affiliation.
Checked 2026-09-19 - arXiv / Physical Review LettersResearch paper
14-qubit entanglement: creation and coherence
Blatt coauthorship; GHZ states up to 14 qubits and correlated-noise analysis. Timeline uses journal year.
Published 2011 · Checked 2026-09-19 - Alpine Quantum TechnologiesCompany history
About AQT
February 2018 foundation with Monz and Zoller; university spin-off and commercial trapped-ion computing purpose.
Checked 2026-09-19