Quantum HW Vibration Intern - 2027 (f/m/x)

Introduction

Quantum computing represents a novel and revolutionary computational paradigm that holds the promise to solve specific problem sets not addressable by classical computers. Among the various concepts and architectures, superconducting quantum bits (qbits) seem most promising as their implementation is based on established semiconductor fabrication technologies which enabled an unprecedented scaling over the last five decades.

Superconducting qbits require mK temperatures - as present in a dilution fridge - and silent conditions to keep the error rates as low as possible. External mechanical vibrations are therefore considered noise sources that may cause detrimental effects on the computing performance as they lead to a rise of the cooling temperature of the fridge, affect the qbit’s coherence times, error rates and leakage and can therefore severely hamper the operational stability of the entire quantum computing system. To operate such computers in data centers and to improve the computing performance, a profound understanding of all these interference pathways is required.

Your Role And Responsibilities

The goal of this internship is to experimentally assess external vibrations and correlate them with dilution fridge parameters and quantum computing performance.

You will be working together with a small international IBM team on the following steps towards this goal:

• Measure external vibrations on the quantum system’s location using high-sensitive geophones in various directions including transfer functions between floor and fridge;
• Develop statistical tools to describe the mechanical interference patterns with the fridge;
• Develop algorithms to read-out quantum performance data;
• Correlate the vibrational data sets with fridge and performance data and perform statistical analysis;
• Determine tolerance levels and maximal allowed vibrations for specific quantum computing systems.

Preferred Education

Master's Degree

Required Technical And Professional Expertise

• Currently pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, physics or a related field.
• Basic understanding and interest in quantum computing, mechanics and statistics.
• Experience with Matlab, Python and data visualization tools.
• Fluent in Engish (B2 level).
• Demonstrated problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.

Preferred Technical And Professional Experience

• Familiarity with AI tooling for research.
• Familiarity with Git and/or Github.
• German (B1 level)