8/17/2026 Siv Schwink for Illinois Physics
Kou's project, “Developing Platforms for Protected Qubits Using a Scanning Resonator Microscope,” will investigate decoherence in existing and proposed superconducting qubit platforms.
Written by Siv Schwink for Illinois Physics
Illinois Physics Professor Angela Kou has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award. This prestigious award recognizes outstanding early-career faculty who excel in both research and education and demonstrate the capacity to become lifetime leaders in their respective fields.
Kou, an experimental quantum information physicist and member of the Illinois Quantum Information Science and Technology Center (IQUIST), investigates how new quantum devices and materials can overcome one of quantum computing's greatest challenges: protecting fragile quantum information from environmental noise. Her research group, the KouBit Lab, works on advancing superconducting quantum hardware and understanding new materials platforms that may be useful for storing quantum information.
Kou's CAREER project, “Developing Platforms for Protected Qubits Using a Scanning Resonator Microscope,” will investigate how existing and proposed qubit platforms interact with their environments while preparing students for careers in the growing quantum workforce.
Quantum computers could someday solve problems beyond the reach of today's most powerful classical computers, but building reliable quantum hardware remains a fundamental challenge. The quantum bits, or qubits, that store and process information are extremely sensitive to their surroundings, allowing even small interactions with the environment to introduce errors. Current approaches rely on quantum error correction, combining thousands of physical qubits into a single logical qubit, making large-scale quantum computing difficult to realize.
Kou's CAREER project aims to improve qubit performance by uncovering the processes that cause quantum information to degrade. Her group will use a scanning microwave resonator microscope developed in her laboratory to examine how several promising qubit platforms evolve and interact with their local environments. These measurements will help identify the sources of energy loss that limit today's superconducting transmon qubits while evaluating newer approaches, including Andreev spin qubits, that may offer improved coherence. Kou will also investigate large arrays of superconducting qubits acting as a single collective qubit as a possible foundation for future protected qubits.
The project combines quantum information science, superconducting circuits, and condensed matter physics. Using the scanning resonator to probe quantum devices in ways that complement existing techniques, Kou hopes to more deeply understand the materials that make up quantum hardware.
The CAREER award also supports educational and outreach activities. Kou's group will provide students with research experience in quantum science and engineering while helping prepare the next generation of scientists for the growing quantum workforce. The project also includes public engagement through a podcast designed to introduce broader audiences to quantum information science.
Kou received her Ph.D. in physics from Harvard University in 2013, where she investigated topological phenomena in quantum materials. She then held a postdoctoral appointment at Yale University where she developed novel superconducting circuits for better quantum information storage. Kou next worked at Microsoft Delft in the Netherlands, where she led a team investigating hybrid superconducting-semiconductor devices.
Kou joined the faculty of the Department of Physics at Illinois Grainger Engineering in 2020.