Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physicist

at  Science and Technology Facilities Council STFC

Job Title: Atomic, Molecular and Optical (AMO) Physicist
Salary: Band E S1 £53,818 - £59,199
Location: RAL - Oxfordshire
Contract Type: 1 Permanent Position
Hours: Full Time (We understand the importance of work-life balance, and are happy to discuss the possibility of flexible working with applicants)

As an experimental AMO physicist, you will work as part of the Neutral Atom Quantum Computing team within the Research division of NQCC. Utilizing your skills in atomic, molecular and optical physics, you will support UK development of quantum computing resources based on neutral atoms. You will develop and deploy robust and re-usable quantum computing platforms to support our technology roadmap, building scalable quantum computing capabilities and making progress against the NQCC technology roadmap.
You will join a growing tweezer array quantum computing (TAQC) team, developing and pushing the limits of the TAQC platform in the UK. The team focus on building UK capability in TAQC, through development of experimental hardware, utilization of QCaaS and in-house commercial platforms, road mapping the development of the TAQC platform, and collaboration with both academia and industry. Our in-house software team will provide control systems to support your work, and our applications engineers will help to explore early applications of your technology.
The wide range of activity undertaken by the team offers many opportunities for personal development. The role will center on establishing an experimental dual species tweezer array quantum computer in our world-class laboratory space, tackling problems that span physics, engineering and innovation. However, the role goes far beyond experimental physics. It might also involve chairing a national debate on the future of the TAQC platform. You might collaborate with an industrial partner to improve the reliability of the neutral atom platform by solving complex engineering challenges. Or you might demonstrate early quantum advantage on a commercial NISQ device.
We are keen to support professional development and if desired, you will be supported in obtaining professional accreditation through IOP CPhys or similar professional accreditation. Additionally, there are other opportunities to develop leadership skills through participation in Hackathons, Summer-Studentships, Apprenticeships, Masters and PhD programs.
While deep technical expertise in quantum computing is not required for this role, it would be considered valuable.

Key Responsibilities:

• Developing systems and subsystems for tweezer array quantum computers.
• Proof-of-concept / engineering projects that overcome TAQC performance bottlenecks.
• Contributing to a roadmap that can scale TAQC platforms towards quantum advantage.
• Input into software and control architecture design, working with the NQCC software team.
• Running events & colloquia for the UK neutral atom quantum computing community.
• Collaboration across platforms within NQCC and with external commercial or academic partners.
• Publishing non-confidential results.
• Promoting best practice software development across the NQCC.
• Play a leading role in the team, and support others to deliver team objectives.