Yvonne studied physics in Oxford University and worked on theoretical quantum optics during a gap year in Singapore. Finding the subject extremely interesting, she wanted to perform experiments that can test the concepts she worked on. She then joined Rob Schoelkopf’s group in 2012 as a graduate student to work on engineering interactions between two or more superconducting cavities useful for both fundamental quantum mechanics and quantum information processing.
The hardware designs and experimental techniques Yvonne and her colleagues developed are important tools for constructing a modular quantum computer. “I love the fact that these experiments also provide us a great way to learn more about quantum physics in general” she said. In her most recent experiment, she used an engineered inter-cavity coupling to realize quantum interference between two or more stationary microwave photons of different frequencies. Their work paves the way towards scalable boson sampling, linear optical quantum computing in the microwave domain, and quantum algorithms between long-lived bosonic memories.
Yvonne will defend her thesis on February 27, 2018. Following her defense, Yvonne will be a research scientist position in a national research lab of Singapore. She will be working on hybrid systems involving superconducting and semiconducting systems.
Fun fact
In Singapore, where Yvonne is heading, chewing gum is not illegal. However, importing and littering it is!
Favorite publication
Chen Wang, Yvonne Y Gao, Ioan M Pop, Uri Vool, Chris Axline, Teresa Brecht, Reinier W Heeres, Luigi Frunzio, Michel H Devoret, Gianluigi Catelani, Leonid I Glazman, Robert J Schoelkopf, Measurement and control of quasiparticle dynamics in a superconducting qubit, Nature Commication (5), page 5836 (2014)
Latest publication
Serge Rosenblum, YY Gao, Philip Reinhold, Chen Wang, CJ Axline, Luigi Frunzio, SM Girvin, Liang Jiang, Mazyar Mirrahimi, MH Devoret, RJ Schoelkopf, A cnot gate between multiphoton qubits encoded in two cavities, Nature Communications (1), page 652 (2018)
Most cited
Chen Wang, Yvonne Y Gao, Philip Reinhold, Reinier W Heeres, Nissim Ofek, Kevin Chou, Christopher Axline, Matthew Reagor, Jacob Blumoff, KM Sliwa, Luigi Frunzio, Steven M Girvin, Liang Jiang, M Mirrahimi, MH Devoret, Robert J Schoelkopf, A Schrödinger cat living in two boxes, Science, (352) page 1087 (2016)