Robert J. Schoelkopf

Robert John Schoelkopf III (born January 24, 1964) is an American physicist, most noted for his work on quantum computing as one of the inventors of superconducting qubits. The title of Sterling Professor is the highest honor bestowed upon Yale faculty.

Biography Schoelkopf was born in Manhattan, New York City, the son of art dealer and Hudson River School expert Robert J. Schoelkopf II. Schoelkopf received his A.B. in physics from Princeton University, cum laude, in 1986, and his Ph.D. from Caltech in 1995. From 1986 to 1988 he was an electrical/cryogenic engineer in the Laboratory for High-Energy Astrophysics at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, where he developed low-temperature radiation detectors and cryogenic instrumentation for future space missions. He came to Yale as a postdoctoral researcher in the group of Daniel Prober in 1995.

Moving to Yale University, he was from 1995 to 1998 a lecturer and associate research scientist, advancing to assistant professor in 1998, and professor of applied physics and physics in 2003. He was later awarded the titles Sterling Professor of Applied Physics and Physics and William A. Norton Professor of Applied Physics and Physics. His other honors include Fellow in the American Physical Society and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Research Robert Schoelkopf focuses his research on the development of superconducting devices for quantum information processing, which might eventually lead to revolutionary advances in computing. In 2007, a team of scientists led by Schoelkopf and Steven Girvin made a major breakthrough in quantum computing when it engineered a superconducting communication "bus" to store and transfer information between distant quantum bits, or qubits, on a chip. Their work is the first step to making the fundamentals of quantum computing useful. In 2009, their team demonstrated the first electronic quantum processor which could perform a quantum computation.

Schoelkopf's techniques emphasize high-speed, high-sensitivity measurements performed on nanostructures at low temperatures. Together with his former supervisor Daniel Prober and his laboratory team, Schoelkopf invented the Radio-Frequency Single-Electron Transistor, an electrometer capable of measuring sub-electron charges on nano-second timescales. This new transistor allowed them to study electrical transport at the single-charge level in various systems. They also developed new types of sensors and detectors that employ these capabilities.

Schoelkopf's current research focus, together with Michel Devoret and Steven Girvin of the Yale Department of Applied Physics, is to further develop superconducting circuits that might one day lead to a practical quantum computer. Other projects are directed at developing "hybrid" quantum systems based on integrating cold atoms, molecules, or electrons with solid-state circuits.

Schoelkopf's law

Schoelkopf's law'states that in quantum computing, decoherence time has improved by roughly a factor of 10 every three years, making it an analogue of Moore's law.

Honors and awards

Comstock Prize in Physics (2024) Connecticut Medal of Science (2017) Member of the National Academy of Sciences (2015) Fritz London Memorial Prize (together with Michel Devoret and John Martinis, 2014) Max Planck Research Award (together with Jörg Wrachtrup, 2014) John Stewart Bell Prize (together with Michel Devoret, 2013) Yale Science and Engineering Association Award for Advancement of Basic and Applied Science (2010) Joseph F. Keithley Award For Advances in Measurement Science (2009) Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science (2007) Fellow of American Physical Society (2005) Member of Defense Science Study Group (2004–2005) Yale University Junior Faculty Fellowship (2002–2003) David and Lucille Packard Foundation Fellow (2000–2005)

Patents

Selection of papers