BIO: I completed my doctoral degree under the guidance of Prof. Daniel Loss at Basel University. My research focused on the theoretical aspects of quantum computing using quantum dots and molecular magnets. Following the completion of two postdoctoral positions at the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Paris-Saclay, I commenced my role as an Assistant Professor at Tsinghua University’s Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences in Beijing. This institute is led by Prof. Andrew Yao, a recipient of the Alan Turing award in 2000. In 2019, I made a career transition to MagTop, where I currently hold the position of team leader for the Dirac Team.
Research highlights: 44 publications and preprints, among which 7 of these papers are published in Physical Review Letters, one in Physical Review X, one in Nature Communications, and one in Physical Review X Quantum. More than 30 invited talks at international conferences (including SpinTech and SPIE conference series). More than 30 invited seminars were held in various laboratories around the world (McGill, CUNY, Tsinghua, IST Austria, Aalto University, Monash University, etc.). My research gathered ~2000 citations, with H = 20 (source: Google Scholar, https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=FCr0DWcAAAAJ&hl=en). Furthermore, I was PI or co-PI in 4 grant applications (one pending), and a European Patent Application (pending).
Other: “Granty na granty 2021”, for being interviewed and obtaining grade “A” in the 2020 ERC CG competition with the project “Harnessing the environment for topological quantum computing’.
Conference organizer: “Northern Lights Conference”, which took place in Reykjavik during 12-15 October 2022, co-organized by Dr. Trif. Its focus was on the interplay of (quantum) magnetism, topology, and superconductivity, as well as on novel applications to tomorrow’s quantum technologies (https://www.northernlightsconference22.eu/.)
Ad. 1 A contribution to MagTop’s highlight “Quantized spin pumping in unconventional superconductors”. By exploring the magnetisation dynamics in ferromagnetic-semiconducting-superconducting hybrids, we have unraveled a novel quantised effect—the spin pumping—which characterises the topology of the system similarly to the conductance in static cases. The observation of correlated and quantized peaks in the conductance and spin pumping would provide strong evidence of MZMs, and allow to distinguish them from quasi-Majorana modes potentially created by imperfections at the lead-nanowire interface. Beyond Majorana physics, our findings could readily find applications in metrology and spintronic-based circuitry. Such ideas are central to a European Patent Application filled by Dr. Trif and collaborators (https://patents.google.com/patent/EP3975275A1/en – pending).
Ad. 2 A contribution to MagTop’s highlight “Novel qubits in superconductors”. MagTop/IFPAN collaboration have introduced a new type of quantum bit, a Yu-Shiba-Rusinov qubit (YSRQ), stemming from two nearby magnetic impurities on a superconductor. We demonstrated that the coherent rotation and the readout of the qubit states is possible by exploiting the dynamics of the impurity spins. YSRQs can be integrated with topological qubits based on MZMs, allowing the possibility to transfer quantum information coherently between them. Furthermore, our findings open the pathway towards networks of such hybrids, and developing small scale quantum algorithms, such as Deutsch-Jozsa and Bernstein-Vazirani pertinent to the current experiments.
Ad. 3 Topological quantum information processing relies on braiding of the Majorana fermions. We have demonstrated that photons in a microwave cavity can monitor the Majorana fermions braiding processes in real time, being able to unravel the topological braiding phase and the parity of the ground state. Unlike traditional methods that rely on quantum transport, our approach does not lead to the loss of quantum information stored by Majorana fermions following measurement. As a result, this method could become a fundamental technique for the readout of future topology-based quantum registers.
Management: At Tsinghua University (2016 -2019), I lead a team of 2 PhD candidates. Since I joined MagTop/IFPAN (2019), I (co-)supervised 4 postdocs and 2 PhD candidates. Furthermore, I established collaborations with several MagTop members, as well as with other IFPAN faculty (Prof. Lukasz Cywinski).
Mentoring: Among the students I (co-)supervised, I would like to highlight fruitful collaboration with Dr. Olesia Dmytruk during her PhD at the University of Paris-Saclay. Currently, she is a permanent CNRS researcher at Ecole Polytechnique in France, a recipient of a 2023 ERC-SG award, and a key collaborator of my group. Additionally, former postdoc Dr. Archana Mishra has recently joined the faculty at the University of Delhi in India. Another notable example is my current postdoc Dr. Pei-Xin Shen, who completed his doctorate at Tsinghua University in Beijing. Under my supervision, he applied for a Marie-Curie fellowship, with a project entitled “SymPhysAI: Symbolic artificial intelligence for hidden topological orders in quantum physics” (pending). Finally, I was also a co-supervisor of the Marie Curie Fellowship granted to Dr. Alexander Lau (former postdoc in my group): “MagTopCSL: Magnetism, Berry-curvature engineering and topology in chalcogenide superlattices”.
Projects management: PI or co-PI in 4 projects:
IFPAN’s co-PI of consortium projects: INITIATIVE FOR EUROPEAN SEMICONDUCTOR-BASED LARGE-SCALE QUANTUM COMPUTER (QLSI2) (pending).
Institution evaluation panel: 2019-2023 Member of the Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw.
2016 – 2019 Member of the PhD defence committee; internal thesis evaluation, Tsinghua University, China.
The applicant’s research focus is primarily driven by the potential applications, especially in the development of future quantum devices. Dr. Mircea Trif has employed various strategies to explore commercialisation opportunities:
(i) During his tenure as a Group Leader at MagTop, the applicant has submitted a European Patent Application: V. Fernández Becerra, Mircea Trif, and Timo Hyart, “Topological charge, spin, and heat transistor” (https://patents.google.com/patent/EP3975275A1/en – pending). This invention is described in https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.103.205410. The results indicate that Majorana fermions have applications beyond quantum computing, showcasing advantages in quantum metrology. The applicant’s subsequent research (https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.237002) expanded on the patent to include semiconducting-superconducting nanowires already present in the lab (e.g. TU Delft), and showed that Majoranas enables the implementation of an on-demand spin battery.
(ii) Involvement (as a local/IFPAN co-PI) in the Initiative for European Semiconductor-based Large-scale Quantum computer (QLSI2). By the end of 2027, this proposal aims to showcase a semiconductor-based quantum computer with 200 qubits that can be accessed through the cloud. The project involves collaboration between 23 partners from 9 countries. In addition, the consortium aims to demonstrate the implementation of meaningful use cases on this demonstrator. The QLSI2 project aims to utilize the knowledge and skills of various European entities (RTOs, academic institutions, start-ups, and large corporations) in different areas of quantum technologies, ranging from hardware to software. The implementation of the roadmap will take into account both heterostructure-based and FD-SOI-based approaches. Furthermore, QLSI2 aims to enhance both technology and manufacturing readiness along these two paths, reaching a sufficient level to fulfill Europe’s aspirations for the industrialization of quantum technologies, with a specific emphasis on scalability.