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THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE PROGRESS

QubitWire 100

100 people shaping quantum computing.

September 2026 editionHow we selected the 100

An independent editorial selection, presented alphabetically by surname.

Search names, organizations and contributions. Results stay alphabetical.

The directory28 results

Showing 28 of 100 people

B

4 people

Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Q-CTRL

Biercuk connects experimental quantum control with software, developing ways to protect fragile quantum states and translating control research into tools for quantum-computing teams.

Control & measurementError correction
Why included?

Biercuk’s research and company-building address a practical problem that spans hardware platforms: a useful calculation must survive imperfect control and environmental noise. His experimental work on optimized dynamical decoupling showed how pulse sequences can preserve a quantum memory more effectively. Q-CTRL extends that control perspective into software used to characterize, optimize and operate quantum devices. This contribution sits alongside, rather than substitutes for, quantum error correction. The profile distinguishes his published experiments from the broader engineering and product work performed by the company he founded.

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Director, Quantum Many-Body Systems Division; Professor of Experimental Physics

Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics / LMU Munich · Germany

Bloch develops ultracold-atom quantum simulators, using optical lattices and microscopic imaging to prepare and observe many-body states that are difficult to understand classically.

Quantum simulationControl & measurement
Why included?

Bloch’s work makes abstract models of interacting matter experimentally accessible. A landmark optical-lattice experiment observed a controlled transition between a superfluid and a Mott insulator. Later, single-atom imaging exposed the structure and defects of a lattice gas one site at a time. Together, these contributions supplied both a controllable system and a way to read it out. They underpin the use of ultracold atoms as quantum simulators, where the goal is to study a chosen physical model rather than to execute every possible digital quantum algorithm.

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Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Atom Computing

Bloom founded Atom Computing and coauthored research on long-lived nuclear-spin qubits, connecting precision atomic physics with the development of scalable neutral-atom quantum computers.

Quantum hardwareControl & measurement
Why included?

Bloom’s contribution combines a specific qubit approach with building an organization to develop it. Atom Computing uses optically trapped neutral atoms, while his coauthored research demonstrates preparation and individual control of nuclear-spin states with long measured coherence. That work addresses the need to retain information while a processor performs operations and measurements. As founder and current chief executive, he also directs the company’s development toward logical qubits and fault tolerance. The profile credits that technical and organizational role without equating a long memory lifetime with a complete error-corrected computer.

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Neutral-atom quantum-computing researcher; Visiting Associate at Caltech

Caltech / Oratomic · United States

Bluvstein develops reconfigurable neutral-atom processors, helping demonstrate coherent transport of entangled atoms and programmable operations on encoded logical qubits in collaborative laboratory experiments.

Quantum hardwareError correction
Why included?

Bluvstein’s research addresses the geometry of a quantum computer: which qubits can interact, how they move, and how information is protected while operations proceed. His coauthored transport experiment used movable atom arrays to create flexible connectivity. A subsequent logical-processor experiment combined that architecture with encoded qubits and error detection. The significance is a concrete route from physical control to logical operations, supported by measured experiments. His identification has been updated from the supplied student biography: Harvard’s alumni page lists a Caltech visiting appointment, and Oratomic lists him on its team.

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C

3 people

Director, Institute for Quantum Control

Forschungszentrum Jülich · Germany

Calarco develops quantum-control approaches and helps organize European quantum research, connecting the precise manipulation of devices with coordinated programs for building quantum technologies.

Control & measurementPolicy & institutions
Why included?

Calarco’s contribution links technical control research with the institutions that support it. His institute works on methods for steering quantum systems toward desired operations, a problem shared by multiple qubit approaches. He also helped shape the Quantum Manifesto and the European coordination that followed, connecting a research agenda to a broader technology program. This combination matters because useful quantum computing depends on both precise operations and sustained collaboration across groups. The profile identifies those documented activities without crediting him with every result produced by the programs he helped organize.

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IBM Fellow and CTO of Quantum-Centric Supercomputing

IBM Research

Chow develops superconducting quantum-computing hardware, with experimental contributions to microwave entangling gates and parity measurements that connect individual qubits to error-correction architectures.

Quantum hardwareControl & measurement
Why included?

Chow’s work follows the engineering path from controlling two qubits to coordinating the operations needed by a protected quantum computer. A microwave entangling-gate experiment demonstrated interaction between fixed-frequency superconducting qubits. A later parity-detection experiment used a third qubit to measure shared information about two data qubits, an operation needed in error-correcting architectures. These results are specific, coauthored steps toward scalable systems. His current IBM role also concerns integration with classical computing; the profile uses IBM’s June 2026 identification rather than the older director title supplied in the draft.

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Professor Emeritus of the Graduate School

University of California, Berkeley · United States

Helped demonstrate macroscopic quantum tunnelling and quantized energy levels in electrical circuits, establishing experimental foundations for superconducting quantum devices and precision qubit measurement.

FoundationsControl & measurement
Why included?

Clarke’s contributions connect the foundations of superconducting quantum behavior to the problem of measuring a quantum device. The 1985 experiments with Michel Devoret and John Martinis demonstrated tunnelling and discrete energy levels in Josephson-junction circuits. His subsequent research includes SQUID detection and controllable coupling between superconducting qubits. These links make his work relevant to how electrical circuits can store, manipulate and reveal quantum information. The profile treats those achievements as collaborative experimental results, without equating the foundational demonstrations with today’s complete processors.

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D

2 people

Professor of Physics at UC Santa Barbara and Chief Scientist of Google Quantum AI

University of California, Santa Barbara; Google Quantum AI · United States

An experimental physicist whose circuit-quantum research connects macroscopic quantum behavior with superconducting qubit designs, including collaborative development of the charge-noise-resistant transmon.

Quantum hardwareControl & measurement
Why included?

Devoret’s work links foundational tests of quantum mechanics in electrical circuits with the engineering of superconducting quantum processors. His early experiments with John Clarke and John Martinis established macroscopic quantum behavior in circuit systems. Later collaborative work contributed to the transmon qubit. That path matters because building a processor requires both confidence in the underlying physical system and designs that reduce its sensitivity to environmental disturbances while preserving control.

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Chief Executive Officer and Founder

Diraq · Australia

A silicon-quantum-computing researcher and company founder whose work connects two-qubit logic in silicon with efforts to develop processors using semiconductor manufacturing approaches.

Quantum hardwareIndustry & commercialization
Why included?

Dzurak’s contribution centers on making silicon a controllable quantum-computing medium and pursuing its commercial development. He coauthored an experimental two-qubit gate using electron spins in silicon quantum dots, an important step beyond isolated single-qubit operation. As Diraq’s founder and chief executive, he also directs a company pursuing silicon-based processors. The significance lies in this connection between a demonstrated building block and an engineering program; large-scale performance remains something to demonstrate.

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G

2 people

Sterling Professor of Physics and Professor of Applied Physics

Yale University · United States

A theoretical physicist whose collaborative research helped establish circuit quantum electrodynamics and the transmon, linking superconducting circuits with controllable interactions between qubits and microwave fields.

Quantum hardwareControl & measurement
Why included?

Girvin’s work helps explain how superconducting electrical circuits can function as engineered quantum systems. The circuit-QED architecture he coauthored described how microwave resonators could support interactions, control and measurement. His subsequent participation in the transmon proposal addressed a key source of qubit noise. These ideas connect theoretical descriptions of light–matter interaction with the design choices needed to build and operate circuit-based quantum processors.

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George Vasmer Leverett Professor of Physics

Harvard University · United States

An experimental physicist who uses ultracold atoms to study interacting quantum matter, with contributions to optical-lattice phase transitions and microscopy that resolves individual atoms.

Quantum simulationControl & measurement
Why included?

Greiner’s research makes complex quantum matter available for controlled experimental study. His work in Munich helped observe a transition between superfluid and Mott-insulating behavior in an optical lattice. His later coauthored quantum-gas-microscope experiment made individual atoms in a lattice directly accessible to imaging. These contributions matter for quantum simulation because the value of a model system depends on both preparing its states and observing how its microscopic constituents behave.

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H

1 person

Professor, ETH Zurich

ETH Zurich · Switzerland

Home develops trapped-ion control and oscillator encodings, helping demonstrate a logical grid-state qubit and correction cycles that prolong information stored in an ion’s motion.

Error correctionControl & measurement
Why included?

Home’s experimental work explores how a single oscillator can carry a protected logical qubit. His collaborations first prepared and controlled grid states in the motion of a trapped calcium ion, then demonstrated correction of small shifts in position and momentum. This connects a mathematical encoding to the physical operations needed to maintain it. The results are significant steps in quantum control and error correction, with their scope limited to the particular encoded systems and procedures tested.

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K

2 people

Neutral-atom quantum physicist; former Chief Executive Officer, QuEra

QuEra

Keesling helped turn programmable Rydberg atom arrays into instruments for quantum simulation, including experiments on large spin systems and the dynamics of quantum phase transitions.

Quantum simulationControl & measurement
Why included?

Keesling’s scientific contributions show why programmable atom arrays are valuable before they become general-purpose fault-tolerant computers. He coauthored the demonstration of a controllable 51-atom spin simulator, then led the author list of an experimental study of quantum critical dynamics. Those experiments used control over atoms and their interactions to examine how quantum matter changes. His subsequent QuEra leadership links this research platform to industrial development; the former CEO title is explicitly historical.

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Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University

Northwestern University · United States

Koch helped introduce the transmon and fluxonium, superconducting circuit designs that address charge noise while preserving the controllable quantum behavior needed for computation.

Quantum hardwareControl & measurement
Why included?

Koch’s contributions show how circuit design can reduce a physical obstacle to quantum computing. The transmon paper identifies an operating regime that strongly suppresses sensitivity to charge noise while retaining enough nonlinearity for qubit control. The fluxonium work uses a different circuit structure to manage offset charges. Both arose from collaborations and are linked here to their original research. Together they illustrate the role of theoretical modeling in choosing hardware that experiments can build and control.

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L

3 people

Chief Technology Officer and cofounder, Alice & Bob

Alice & Bob

Lescanne helped demonstrate cat-qubit protection against bit flips and cofounded Alice & Bob to develop superconducting hardware that uses this asymmetry between error types.

Error correctionQuantum hardware
Why included?

Lescanne’s research explores whether hardware can suppress one class of errors before a larger correction code is applied. His collaborative cat-qubit experiment encoded information in a superconducting resonator stabilized by two-photon dissipation. Increasing the separation of its states suppressed bit flips, while phase flips still required attention. Alice & Bob’s history links that work to its 2020 founding. His contribution thus spans an experimentally tested protection mechanism and the attempt to develop it into a computing architecture.

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Professor, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen

University of Copenhagen · Denmark

Lodahl develops interfaces between solid-state emitters and light, advancing photonic entanglement, programmable optical interactions and the building blocks of quantum networks and processors.

Quantum networksControl & measurement
Why included?

Lodahl works on the point where matter can prepare, control and connect individual photons. His collaborations use quantum emitters in nanophotonic structures to generate entanglement and enable optical interactions that photons would not ordinarily provide by themselves. Recent experiments demonstrate temporal fusion of entangled resource states and programmable nonlinear circuits. These are concrete components for photonic computing and networking, rather than claims that a complete large-scale photonic computer has already been assembled.

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Chair Professor

University of Science and Technology of China · China

Contributed to the Jiuzhang photonic sampling experiments and their programmable successor, advancing the experimental study of quantum computational advantage with large optical systems.

Algorithms & complexityControl & measurement
Why included?

Lu adds a distinct experimental perspective to the directory: photonic sampling as a test of quantum computational advantage. He is a co-author of the 2020 Jiuzhang result and the 2021 phase-programmable follow-up, which brought together squeezed-light sources, interferometers and photon detection. His contribution is represented through those original papers and his verified USTC identification. The profile keeps the claim bounded: these experiments address specialized sampling problems, and their published comparisons depend on the classical algorithms and assumptions used at the time.

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M

2 people

Professor and Boeing Johnson Endowed Chair, University of Washington

University of Washington · United States

Marcus investigates quantum electronic devices, contributing to coherent control of electron-spin qubits and to semiconductor–superconductor materials that enable new approaches to quantum hardware.

Quantum hardwareControl & measurement
Why included?

Marcus’s experimental work connects quantum-information goals with the behavior of electronic materials. A collaborative double-quantum-dot experiment demonstrated preparation, manipulation and readout of two-electron spin states, including techniques to suppress dephasing. Later work on epitaxial semiconductor–superconductor nanowires improved control of the material interface, an essential issue for hybrid devices. These contributions illustrate two routes through solid-state quantum hardware. His current professional identification follows the University of Washington faculty page, which records his move there in 2023.

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Scientia Professor of Quantum Engineering

UNSW Sydney · Australia

Uses the electron and nuclear spins of individual atoms in silicon as quantum information carriers, developing the control and readout methods needed to make those qubits usable.

Quantum hardwareControl & measurement
Why included?

Morello’s contribution centers on making a single atom in silicon behave as a controllable information system. His group’s electron-spin work established practical readout and control, followed by nuclear-spin demonstrations that exploited a different part of the same atom. This gives silicon quantum computing both processing and memory possibilities. The research is significant because a qubit needs preparation, operations and measurement together; long coherence alone is insufficient. The cited results remain specific experimental demonstrations rather than evidence of a completed large-scale processor.

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N

1 person

Director, RIKEN Center for Quantum Computing

RIKEN · Japan

Helped demonstrate coherent control in an early superconducting qubit and now leads RIKEN’s quantum-computing center, connecting circuit physics with the development of working quantum systems.

Quantum hardwareControl & measurement
Why included?

Nakamura’s 1999 experiment made a superconducting electrical device function as a coherently controlled two-level quantum system. That result is a concrete foundation for the superconducting route pursued by many current processors. His present RIKEN role adds a second contribution: directing a center that builds and studies actual quantum computers across multiple approaches. These are distinct forms of influence, experimental demonstration and research organization. The record does not attribute every RIKEN system or performance result to him individually.

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O

1 person

Professor of Physics; Director, Center for Quantum Engineering

Massachusetts Institute of Technology · United States

Develops superconducting quantum hardware across materials, devices and control, studying both the interactions that make processors work and the environmental effects that limit their reliability.

Quantum hardwareControl & measurement
Why included?

Oliver’s research links device engineering with the physics of reliable superconducting qubits. His coauthored work on giant artificial atoms demonstrates ways to control coupling and preserve interactions through a shared waveguide. A separate radiation study identifies an environmental source of quasiparticles that can degrade coherence, showing why processor design must include its surroundings. Together these contributions address useful interactions and unwanted disturbances. His MIT leadership connects that research with the broader engineering required to build quantum systems.

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P

2 people

John G. Braun Professor of Applied Physics and Physics; Director of Quantum Hardware, AWS

Caltech / Amazon Web Services · United States

Connects precision control of light and mechanical motion with superconducting quantum hardware, including the cat-qubit approach used by AWS to explore lower-overhead quantum error correction.

Quantum hardwareError correction
Why included?

Painter’s contributions join the control of quantum physical systems with the engineering of a computing architecture. His group’s micromechanical experiment generated squeezed light on a silicon device, showing how designed structures can manipulate optical noise. More recently, his AWS hardware program demonstrated the Ocelot cat-qubit chip with error correction. The two results operate at different levels, device physics and encoded computation. Ocelot is an experimental building block toward larger systems, with substantial engineering still required for useful fault-tolerant computing.

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Assistant Professor of Applied Physics

Yale University · United States

Designs quantum operations and error-correction methods that exploit structured noise, linking the theory of cat-qubit gates with experimental stabilization, control and measurement of superconducting oscillator qubits.

Error correctionQuantum hardware
Why included?

Puri’s work asks how a qubit’s physical noise can shape the design of a reliable computer. Her bias-preserving-gate research develops operations that maintain an advantageous error structure instead of destroying it during computation. The Kerr-cat experiment supplies a complementary physical demonstration, combining stabilization, gates and readout in a superconducting oscillator. These contributions connect device behavior with fault-tolerant architecture. They support an approach to reducing the demands of error correction under stated assumptions, rather than eliminating errors altogether.

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S

1 person

Associate Professor of Physics

Stanford University · United States

Engineers interactions among laser-cooled atoms to study quantum many-body behavior and create entanglement that can improve the precision of atomic measurements and clocks.

Quantum simulationControl & measurement
Why included?

Schleier-Smith makes collective quantum behavior experimentally controllable. Her work uses light to mediate interactions between atoms, allowing researchers to tune how information and correlations spread through an atomic ensemble. The same ability to engineer entanglement supports both quantum simulation and improved measurement. She belongs in this directory for research that links those purposes: learning how complex quantum systems behave while developing methods to extract more precise information from them.

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V

1 person

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Professor

Delft University of Technology / QuTech · Netherlands

Develops quantum control of spins, from an early nuclear-magnetic-resonance demonstration of Shor’s algorithm to semiconductor quantum dots designed for quantum computation and simulation.

Quantum hardwareControl & measurement
Why included?

Vandersypen’s career connects an early experimental test of a quantum algorithm with the continuing challenge of building controllable solid-state qubits. The nuclear-spin experiment demonstrated a small instance of factoring, while his Delft program develops ways to trap, initialize, manipulate and read individual electron spins. These contributions address different stages of the field. Together they show how algorithm demonstrations and detailed device control can inform the search for physical systems that support larger quantum computations.

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W

2 people

Professor of Physics

University of Queensland · Australia

Develops photonic quantum technology and methods for characterizing quantum states, including collaborative work on an optical controlled-NOT gate and reliable reconstruction of two-qubit states.

Quantum hardwareControl & measurement
Why included?

White’s research links making a quantum operation work with establishing what the experiment actually produced. An optical controlled-NOT gate demonstrates interactions between photon-encoded qubits, while quantum-state tomography provides methods to reconstruct and assess the resulting states. Those contributions are complementary: an experimental device needs trustworthy characterization as well as control. His current Queensland research continues that focus on photonic technology and entanglement, with the early demonstrations credited to their collaborating teams.

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Trapped-ion physicist; 2012 Nobel laureate

NIST (foundational research)

Helped establish trapped-ion quantum computing through laser cooling, a controlled quantum logic gate and deterministic entanglement, connecting precision measurement with experimental quantum information.

Control & measurementFoundations
Why included?

Wineland is included for experiments that showed quantum information could be prepared, manipulated and shared in controlled atomic systems. The 1995 gate experiment demonstrated two quantum bits encoded in one trapped atom, while the 1998 work produced entanglement between two ions on demand. These are distinct steps toward scalable processing, not merely demonstrations of unusual quantum behavior. His work also connects computing to the precision-control techniques used in atomic clocks. The contributions are attributed to their experimental teams rather than to Wineland alone.

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Y

1 person

Fellow, JILA and NIST

JILA / National Institute of Standards and Technology · United States

Uses precise laser control, optical clocks and ultracold matter to investigate quantum behavior, including entanglement-enhanced timekeeping and controllable systems for quantum many-body research.

Control & measurementQuantum simulation
Why included?

Ye’s work shows how precise measurement and quantum control reinforce one another. Optical lattice clocks demand exceptional control over atoms and light; the same tools enable experiments on interactions, entanglement and ultracold molecules. His research therefore contributes to the broader experimental capabilities on which quantum computing and simulation depend. The profile highlights a measured improvement from entanglement alongside a continuing many-body research program, without presenting an atomic clock as a general-purpose quantum processor.

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