{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The New Quantum Era - innovation in quantum computing, science and technology","title":"The Mysterious Majorana with Leo Kouwenhoven","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3704,"description":"Welcome to another episode of The New Quantum Era Podcast hosted by Kevin Rowney and Sebastian Hassinger. Today, they are joined by an outstanding European researcher: Professor Leo Kouwenhoven.Leo is a professor in Applied Physics specialized in the field of Quantum NanoScience at TU Delft. Leo got his Ph.D. in Mesoscopic Physics at Delft. He was a postdoc researcher at the University of California at Berkeley and a visiting professor at Harvard. Highlights in Leo’s career include the discovery of conductance quantization in quantum point contacts, Coulomb blockade in quantum dots, artificial atoms, the Kondo effect in quantum dots, Spin qubits, induced superconductivity in nanowires and nanotubes, spin-orbit qubits in nanowires and nanotubes and Majoranas in nanowires. Leo and his group found evidence of Majoranas detailed in a paper from 2012. He lead the Microsoft hardware R&D effort, working on topological qubits using Majorana zero modes from 2016 to 2022. His current focus at Delft is on topological effects in solid-state devices, such as the emergence of Majoranas and topological qubits.Key Takeaways:[2:53] Kevin and Sebastian share their appreciation about how quantum computing was represented in the episode Joan is Awful of the TV show Black Mirror. [6:04] Leo shares how he got interested in the field of quantum computing.[9:40] Leo discusses how much he knew about the work done in theoretical quantum computing in the mid to late 90s.[14:37] The advantage of superconducting qubits is that you have a large number of electrons in the circuit you are manipulating.[15:34] Measurability can be easier but “it always comes with a price”.[17:05] Leo admits the coherence was insufficient, and he shares how they tried to improve it.[19:15] What is the feature of silicon that makes it valuable for Quantum Computing?[22:12] Leo shares the benefits of a hybrid system (combining super connectivity and semi-connectors).[23:10] Leo discusses how he became interested in...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/0bJ0_ffy0r0O2l32QT5Tn9-3l9jtqpUcMVwNZnZXwRM/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8yZmZl/YmRlZTAxNDY3MWJk/NmI2MGVkMGMxYmFh/MTM2Mi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}