People

Joseph Salfi (jsalfi-at-ece.ubc.ca)

About Dr. Salfi: I am an experimental quantum physicist and electrical engineer. My research interests centre on the physical properties of spin and superconductor based quantum devices. 

I primarily affilaited with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of British Columbia. I am also currently a principal investigator of the Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute, and an affiliate member of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, both at the University of British Columbia.

More information on research interests can be found here.

I am distinguished in my research field for the invention [Physical Review Letters 2016, and US patent US9691033B2] and first experimental demonstration [Nature Materials 2021, Phys.org] of ultra-long-lived quantum bits in the valence band, with strong intrinsic spin-orbit coupling, which allows electric control of spin. This is advantageous for building large-scale quantum information technologies. I also performed the first proof-of-principal experimental demonstration of analog quantum simulation of the Fermi-Hubbard model with spins in silicon. The Fermi-Hubbard model is the quantum mechanical model behind some of the most puzzling phenomena in condensed matter physics [Nature Communications 2016 and Phys.org popular coverage]. My research is industrially relevant because it is based on silicon materials that underpin classical computer technologies .

Selected publications:

1. Kobayashi, T., Salfi, J., van der Heijden, J., Chua, C., House, M. G., Culcer, D., Hutchison, W.D., Johnson, B.C., McCallum, J.C., Riemann, H., Abrosimov, N.V., Becker, P., Pohl, H.-J., Simmons, M.Y., Rogge, S. Engineering long spin coherence times of spin-orbit qubits in silicon. Nature Materials. DOI:10.1038/s41563-020-0743-3

2. Salfi, J., Mol, J. A., Culcer, D., Rogge, S. Charge-insensitive single-atom spin-orbit qubit in silicon. 2016. Physical Review Letters, 116, 246801. 10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.246801

3. Salfi, J., Mol, J. A., Rahman, R., Klimeck, G., Simmons, M. Y., Hollenberg, L. C. L. and Rogge, S. Quantum simulation of the Hubbard model with dopant atoms in silicon. 2016. Nature Communications, 7, 11342. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11342

4. Salfi, J., Mol, J. A., Rahman, R., Klimeck, G., Simmons, M. Y., Hollenberg, L. C. L., Rogge, S. Spatially resolving valley quantum interference of a donor in silicon.  2014. Nature Materials., 14(6), 605-609. DOI:10.1038/nmat3941

5. Salfi, J., Savelyev, I. G., Blumin, M., Nair, S. V. and Ruda, H. E. Direct observation of single-charge-detection capability of nanowire field-effect transistors. 2010. Nature Nanotechology, 5(10), 737-741. DOI:10.1038/nnano.2010.180.

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