Robert J. Schoelkopf

Schoelkopf made the first observations of the quantum component of shot noise in a resistor; invented a self-calibrating technique for primary thermometry, invented the radio-frequency single-electron transistor, the world's fastest and most sensitive electrometer. With Devoret and Girvin he created the new field of 'circuit quantum electrodynamics' which extends quantum optics concepts to microwave electrical circuits. He made the first observation of the vacuum Rabi splitting of an electrical circuit, the first high visibility Rabi oscillation measurements for a superconducting qubit, first measured the photon number distribution in an electrical circuit, first generated single microwave photons on demand, achieved QND measurement of microwave photons in a circuit, ran the first quantum algorithm and performed the first quantum error correction on a solid-state quantum processor. This far exceeds those achievable in atomic physics. M He has increased the coherence times of superconducting qubits by a factor of ~500. His 'transmon' qubit design is now widely used throughout the world.