New frontiers in quantum technologies: from metaoptics to quantum computers

by Prof. Federico Capasso (Harvard Univerity), Prof. Mikhail Lukin (Harvard Univerisity)

Tuesday 2 Dec 2025, 14:30 → 16:30 Europe/Rome

Aula Magna (Palazzo del Bo)

Federico Capasso
Robert L. Wallace Professor of Applied Physics and Vinton Hayes Senior Research Fellow in Electrical Engineering Harvard University

Federico Capasso’s work has pioneered advances in semiconductor physics, photonics, and quantum optics, driving the fundamental control of light–matter interactions at the nanoscale. He played a leading role in the invention of the quantum cascade laser, a breakthrough technology with wide-ranging applications in spectroscopy, sensing, and communications. He has also made major contributions to the field of nanophotonics, spearheading the development of flat optics and optical metasurfaces that have revolutionized lens design and optical device engineering.

Professor Capasso is a member of the  U.S. National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the IEEE Edison Medal, SPIE Gold Medal, and the Franklin Medal.

Mikhail D. Lukin
Joshua and Beth Friedman University Professor of Physics, Harvard University

Mikhail D. Lukin’s work has bridged quantum optics, atomic physics, and quantum many-body science, facilitating the implementation of potential applications in emerging areas such as quantum information science, as well as in more traditional fields such as nonlinear optics. He has studied quantum systems consisting of interacting photons, atoms, molecules, and electrons coupled to realistic environments, developing new techniques for controlling the quantum dynamics of such systems and exploring the fundamental physical phenomena associated with them. He was one of the leading contributors to the development of programmable Rydberg atom–based quantum hardware with hundreds of qubits, achieving breakthroughs in the quantum simulation of complex many-body systems and pioneering the implementation of quantum error-correction schemes.

Professor Lukin is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and Fellow of OSA, APS, and AAAS. He has received numerous honors, including the Charles Hard Townes Medal and the Norman F. Ramsey Prize in 2021.

  

 

 

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