Andrea Morello

Biography

Andrea is the manager of the Quantum Spin Control program. His background is in condensed-matter physics and electrical engineering, with a long standing interest in the quantum dynamics of spins in nanostructures. He started his career at the Grenoble High Magnetic Field Laboratory, investigating the magnetic phase diagram of high-Tc superconductors. His pioneering work on the dynamics of the nuclear spin bath in quantum nanomagnets and its impact on decoherence in large quantum systems, undertaken at the Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, brought him in contact with the quantum computing community. After 2 years at the University of Colombia Andrea joined UNSW in 2006, dedicated to the goal of developing a donor-based spin quantum computer in silicon. His group was the first in the world to achieve single-shot readout of an electron spin in silicon, and they have now have demonstrated the coherent control of both the electron and the nuclear spin of a single donor. These breakthroughs have been achieved by relentless pursuit of excellence in experimental techniques – integrating low temperatures, high frequency and nanofabrication - as well as theory and modeling. He collaborates with A.S. Dzurak for the fabrication of nanostructures, with D.N. Jamieson and J.C. McCallum for single-ion implantation and materials characterization, and with L.C.L. Hollenberg for device modeling. In 2011 Andrea was awarded, together with Professor Andrew Dzurak, the Eureka Prize for Scientific Research. He was also awarded the Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year for 2013.

Research Interest

Quantum Control Of Spin Qubits In Silicon Prof Morello heads the Quantum Spin Control group at UNSW, aiming at the coherent control of spin qubits in silicon. His group develops advanced techniques for high-speed and high-sensitivity measurements on single spins, to demonstrate all the building blocks of a scalable spin-based quantum computer. They were world-first in demonstrating single-shot spin readout in silicon, and they are currently developing microwave techniques for single-spin control, exchange coupling of multiple spins, and transport of quantum information across a silicon crystal. Spin Coherence And Decoherence Beside the focused activity to develop the building blocks of a spin-based quantum computer, Andrea maintains a strong interest in studying the microscopic mechanisms which determine the coherence of spin systems. He has given important contributions to the decoherence problem in dipolarly-coupled spins, and is interested in using spin qubits to test models of decoherence and fundamental quantum-mechanical questions.