Michael J. Fitzpatrick Distinguished Professor of Engineering
Prof. Brown's research interest is the control of quantum systems for both understanding the natural world and developing new technologies. His current research areas are the development of robust quantum computers and the study of molecular properties at cold and ultracold temperatures.
Appointments and Affiliations
- Michael J. Fitzpatrick Distinguished Professor of Engineering
- Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Associate Director of the Duke Quantum Center
- Professor of Physics
- Member of the Duke Quantum Center
Contact Information
- Office Location: 701 W Main St, Suite 400, Durham, NC 27701
- Email Address: kenneth.r.brown@duke.edu
- Websites:
Education
- B.S. University of Puget Sound, 1998
- Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, 2003
Research Interests
Quantum error correction, quantum control, quantum computer architecture, ion trap quantum computing, and the spectroscopy of sympathetically cooled molecular ions
Awards, Honors, and Distinctions
- Stansell Family Distinguished Research Award. Pratt School of Engineering. 2020
- Fellow. American Physical Society. 2018
- Experienced Research Fellow. Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. 2015
- Kavli Fellow. Kavli Foundation and National Academy of Science. 2013
Courses Taught
- PHYSICS 995: Graduate Training Internship
- PHYSICS 628: Quantum Error Correction
- PHYSICS 495: Thesis Independent Study
- PHYSICS 493: Research Independent Study
- HOUSECS 59: House Course
- EGR 393: Research Projects in Engineering
- ECE 899: Special Readings in Electrical Engineering
- ECE 891: Internship
- ECE 621: Quantum Error Correction
- ECE 520: Graduate Introduction to Quantum Engineering
- ECE 494: Projects in Electrical and Computer Engineering
- ECE 493: Projects in Electrical and Computer Engineering
- ECE 420: Introduction to Quantum Engineering
- ECE 391: Projects in Electrical and Computer Engineering
In the News
- The Road to Build a Quantum Computer (Sep 3, 2024 | Pratt School of Engineering)
- Light-Sensitive Molecules Measured in New Way with Quantum Computing (Aug 30, 2…
- University Awards 24 New Distinguished Professorships (May 18, 2022)
- Quantum Computers Can Be Better Than the Sum of Their Parts (Oct 15, 2021 | Pra…
- Duke Joins $25M NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Robust Quantum Simulat…
- Duke Is Building a World-Class Team for the Quantum Computing Race (Nov 12, 202…
- Quick Course: Summer Computing at Pratt Opens New Doors for Students (Jun 26, 2…
- Duke to Lead $15 Million Program to Create First Practical Quantum Computer (Au…
- Spectator Qubits Seek to Improve Control of Four Quantum Computing Systems (Apr…
Representative Publications
- Debroy, Dripto M., Muyuan Li, Michael Newman, and Kenneth R. Brown. “Stabilizer Slicing: Coherent Error Cancellations in Low-Density Parity-Check Stabilizer Codes.” Physical Review Letters 121, no. 25 (December 2018): 250502. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.121.250502.
- Calvin, Aaron T., and Kenneth R. Brown. “Spectroscopy of Molecular Ions in Coulomb Crystals.” The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 9, no. 19 (October 2018): 5797–5804. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b01387.
- Brown, Natalie C., and Kenneth R. Brown. “Comparing Zeeman qubits to hyperfine qubits in the context of the surface code: 174Yb+ and 171Yb+.” Phys. Rev. A 97 (May 2, 2018): 052301–052301. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.97.052301.
- Trout, C. J., M. Li, M. Gutiérrez, Y. Wu, S. T. Wang, L. Duan, and K. R. Brown. “Simulating the performance of a distance-3 surface code in a linear ion trap.” New Journal of Physics 20, no. 4 (April 1, 2018). https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/aab341.
- Calvin, Aaron T., Smitha Janardan, John Condoluci, Réne Rugango, Eric Pretzsch, Gang Shu, and Kenneth R. Brown. “Rovibronic Spectroscopy of Sympathetically Cooled 40CaH+.” The Journal of Physical Chemistry A 122, no. 12 (March 9, 2018): 3177–81. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpca.7b12823.
- Leung, Pak Hong, Kevin A. Landsman, Caroline Figgatt, Norbert M. Linke, Christopher Monroe, and Kenneth R. Brown. “Robust 2-Qubit Gates in a Linear Ion Crystal Using a Frequency-Modulated Driving Force.” Physical Review Letters 120, no. 2 (January 2018): 020501. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.120.020501.
- Condoluci, J., S. Janardan, A. T. Calvin, R. Rugango, G. Shu, C. D. Sherrill, and K. R. Brown. “Reassigning the CaH+ 11Σ → 21Σ vibronic transition with CaD.” The Journal of Chemical Physics 147, no. 21 (December 2017): 214309. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5016556.
- Linke, Norbert M., Mauricio Gutierrez, Kevin A. Landsman, Caroline Figgatt, Shantanu Debnath, Kenneth R. Brown, and Christopher Monroe. “Fault-tolerant quantum error detection.” Science Advances 3, no. 10 (October 2017): e1701074. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1701074.
- Li, M., M. Gutiérrez, S. E. David, A. Hernandez, and K. R. Brown. “Fault tolerance with bare ancillary qubits for a [[7,1,3]] code.” Physical Review A 96, no. 3 (September 28, 2017). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.96.032341.
- Rugango, René, Aaron T. Calvin, Smitha Janardan, Gang Shu, and Kenneth R. Brown. “Vibronic Spectroscopy of Sympathetically Cooled CaH.” Chemphyschem : A European Journal of Chemical Physics and Physical Chemistry 17, no. 22 (November 2016): 3764–68. https://doi.org/10.1002/cphc.201600645.
- Brown, K. R., J. Kim, and C. Monroe. “Co-designing a scalable quantum computer with trapped atomic ions.” Npj Quantum Information 2, no. 1 (January 1, 2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/npjqi.2016.34.