Members

The guy mainly in charge of Japanese paperwork. More details about this person can be found here.

Born and bred in Ethiopia, I did my undergrad at Imperial College London. I then went to Brighton's University of Sussex to complete my PhD in Matthias Keller's group, working on trapped ions in optical cavities. I later joined Axel Kuhn's Atom-Photon Connection group in Oxford to comprehend life as a neutral-atom guy, look into fancy cavities and ended up learning about even fancier photons. I was getting rekindled with long-lived emitters after teaming up with Joe Goodwin in David Lucas's Ion Trap Quantum Computing group before I was seduced by a shisa chanting Sanshin folk in the fall of 2019.     

I did my undergraduate studies at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India. Following my master’s degree studies at IISER Kolkata I set off to the US for my PhD at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, carrying out experimental studies of collective effects in spontaneous emission rates in cold atoms. I joined the Professor Takahashi’s group at OIST after a year of Postdoctoral work at Aarhus University, Denmark.

Shaobo did his undergraduates and master's in National University of Defense Technology majoring in physics. He then tried his luck in UK for his PhD and managed to finish two projects in Oxford University. The first projects is quantum memories in atomic ensemble in Ian Walmsley's group while the second one is to integrate optical micro-cavity with ion trap in David Lucas's group. After graduation, with some general curiosity towards nature and humanity, he lived like a nomad in Southwest Chinese mountains for more than a year. He then decided to return to modern civilization and academia in fall 2022.

Dr Kavungal completed his master’s from Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) in India and then moved to Technological University Dublin in Ireland to do his PhD. Since April 2022, he has worked as a postdoc at OIST, first in Light-Matter Interaction for Quantum Technologies Unit (LMI-QT) and then in EQuIP unit. During his PhD, his research was mainly about optical fibre-based whispering gallery mode (WGM) microresonators for sensing applications. The main aim of the research was to investigate and address several key aspects related to developing novel sensors and tunable devices based on cylindrical WGM micro-resonators to move such structures closer to practical applications. In EQuIP unit, Dr Kavungal is involved in the research and development of high-finesse optical cavities for Ion trap experiments.

I’m interested in how photons and trapped ions can be engineered into practical quantum systems. Much of my work sits at the boundary between quantum optics and experimental hardware, where precise control of atoms, light, and devices has to come together in a single experiment.

I studied physics in the UK and completed my PhD in quantum optics at the University of Bath, where I investigated nonlinear optical interactions in warm rubidium vapour and mechanisms for low-loss optical switching. During this time I became increasingly interested not just in the physics of quantum systems, but in the challenge of building the hardware that makes them possible.

Along the way I spent time in Japan working at NTT Basic Research Laboratories and later worked on photonic packaging and ion-trap hardware—experiences that pushed me further toward experimental quantum platforms.

I joined the EQuIP unit, where I now work with Ba⁺ ions to develop photon–ion interfaces for quantum information processing and future quantum network technologies.

Co-supervised by Dr. Yuimaru Kubo

He was born in Nago City, Okinawa. After graduating from Nago High School, he studied physics at the University of the Ryukyus. He engaged in research about complex systems and got a master's degree at the end of March 2020. During his graduate studies, he worked as a research assistant in the Quantum Dynamics Unit (supervisor: Prof. Denis Konstantinov) at OIST. He is currently working on research of thermal maser with Dr. Kubo (Science and Technology Associate in OIST).
He has never lived outside of Okinawa before. He is proud to be the most local student in this global graduate school.

Zhenghan is a PhD student in EQuIP unit. Zhenghan did his undergrad in University College London majoring in straight physics and his master in Imperial College London majoring in physics with quantum dynamics. During then, he gained his interest on ion trap quantum computing and started considering photonic interconnect as the future of human being. After one-year competition with quantum hackers by quantum key distribution in University of Hong Kong, he finally joined EQuIP unit as an ion trapper. 

Shuma was born in Tokyo and earned his undergraduate and master's degrees from Keio University. While there, he worked on creating air-suspended carbon nanotubes with a defect state to trap an exciton for use as room-temperature single photon sources. Fascinated by the field of ion trap quantum computers, where you can sit right next to the pure quantum world and actually work together with the cute tiny ions, he flew to Okinawa to join EQuIP.

Having had a long-lasting love for applied sciences (especially everything related to CAD/CAM/CAE, engineering and manufacturing), I did my undergrad at Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University. Halfway through my undergrad I got sidetracked and found new interests in gas dynamics and thermal physics. As a result, my thesis research concerned the physical characterization of a plasma plume made by laser keyhole welding. I later joined the Nonlinear Optics of Condensed Media Laboratory at ITMO University in hopes of gaining experience in experimental physics. There I worked on microparticle loading into linear electrodynamic quadrupole traps, as well as simulation and analysis of particle dynamics of localized ions. Pursuing my dream of working on the development of a trapped-ion quantum computer, I joined Prof. Takahashi's unit, where I will be studying cavity QED of Barium ions. When not in the lab, I can be found enjoying the ocean and hiking the (few and small) peaks of Okinawa.

Co-supervised by Dr. Yuimaru Kubo

Mathieu completed an MSc at Concordia University in Montreal studying optical whispering gallery mode resonators. Using these resonances, he developed a precise method to characterize optical fibers and, as a second project developed an optical gyroscope for autonomous vehicles. For his PhD he is working with nitrogen vacancy center ensembles in diamonds for quantum devices. He is trying to extend the coherence time of these ensembles and also develop a quantum memory capable of storing single photons at microwave frequencies.

I was born and raised in Culiacán, Sinaloa, México. For my undergraduate studies, I moved to Monterrey to study Engineering Physics at Tecnológico de Monterrey in 2019. I first worked on an optical sensor capable of measuring the concentration of binary solutions using surface plasmon resonance. After that, I participated in a theoretical project focused on analyzing the classical and quantum dynamics of a particle trapped inside an elliptic billiard.I joined the PhD program at OIST in 2024. My current interests lie in the experimental realization of quantum computing, specifically with ion traps. I greatly enjoy seeing how theory works in practice. I still cannot believe that quantum mechanics works. Outside of academia, I practice calisthenics and am working toward my goal of performing full planche push-ups. I also enjoy going to the gym, walking, exploring, and playing video games in my free time.

I was born and raised in Utah in the US. I did my undergraduate in physics at the University of Utah where I primarily worked on noise and impedance spectroscopy of organic LEDs. In 2022, I came to EQuIP for a few months as an intern. My brief time here was great, so I later came back to OIST as a student in 2023. During my PhD I plan to work mainly on optical cavities used for ion-photon interactions.

Shingo earned his Bachelor's and Master’s degrees at the Tokyo University of Science. There, he developed comprehensive, end-to-end expertise in C-shunt flux qubits—spanning from CAD design and EM simulations to cleanroom fabrication and cryogenic measurements.

His journey with the EQuIP Unit began with a year-long internship, during which he focused on developing MEMS cavities for optical interconnections between ion-trap systems. Following this exploration of ion-trap, Shingo chose to return to his roots in superconducting circuits to pursue his PhD. He now explores itinerant microwave photons to advance FTQC.

Outside the laboratory, Shingo is a keen explorer of Okinawa’s biodiversity. Guided by local experts, he ventures into the Yanbaru forests. Whether he is diving into the ocean in search of "underwater treasures" or fishing and enjoying a fresh catch from the sea, his curiosity for the natural world mirrors his meticulous approach to quantum physics.

I received my PhD in Engineering from Ibaraki University (Japan), 2013. I am interested in a variety of fields, mostly centered around condensed matter physics and materials science –in particular: heteroepitaxial growth, surface/interface structure, quantum beam science and semiconductor research. I am also interested in quantum computer science! I am interested to know more about the various experimental techniques that will help with studies and development of Trapped ion quantum computer. In my free time, I enjoy catching a game of football and having meaningful conversations with my friends over a few drinks, though I also enjoy reading and skiing.

I have experienced a few careers. Now I am glad to be a member in EQuIP Unit, OIST, writing some software to control some hardware as experiment instrument. I like it so much. In my leisure time, I like cooking, and hiking.

I was born and raised in Naha. After completing my undergraduate and graduate studies in Tokyo, I worked as a researcher in Tsukuba for about five years. Now, I am happy to be back in Okinawa and extremely excited to be a member of such a fascinating research unit: EQuIP. I look forward to contributing to the development of our research.

I was born and raised in Okinawa, had university life in Tokyo, and joined OIST in 2024 after spending a few years in Canada.
Coming from a non-scientific background, joining OIST was a big challenge for me, but I enjoy helping members achieve their scientific goals from an administrative perspective.