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Photo of Dr. K. Rajibul Islam

ORCID: 0000-0002-6483-8932

Dr. K. Rajibul Islam

Principal Investigator

Position: Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, and Institute for Quantum Computing

Email: krislam@uwaterloo.ca

Extension: +1 519 888 4567 ext. 31995 (QNC Office), 32236/7/8 (labs)

Office: QNC 4109, RAC1 1112

Previous institution: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Postdoc, 2015-16); Harvard University (Postdoc, 2012-15); University of Maryland (PhD, 2007-12)

Publication history: Google Scholar

Associate Professor, Institute for Quantum Computing and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo

UW Physics and Astronomy profile , IQC Profile , CV

Affiliate, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

Co-founder, Open Quantum Design

Co-founder and Chief Scientific Advisor, Lightflow Optics Inc.

Notable recognitions

Fellow, American Physical Society (2024)
VAIBHAV fellow, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India (2024 - )
Excellence in Science Teaching Award, Faculty of Science, University of Waterloo (2024)
President’s Excellence in Research Award, University of Waterloo (2020)
Recognized by the Department of Physics and Astronomy for outstanding teaching (2019, ‘20)
Early Researcher Award, Ontario Government (2019)
Distinguished PhD Dissertation Award, University of Maryland (2012-13)

Teaching

PHYS 701 (Graduate Quantum Physics, Fall ‘22)
PHYS 234 (Quantum Physics I, Winter 2019, ‘20, ‘21, ‘22, ‘24)
PHYS 393 (Physical Optics, Winter 2020, ‘22, ‘24)
PHYS 256 (Geometrical and Physical Optics, Fall 2017, ‘18, ‘22)

Outreach

Dr. Islam is actively involved with several science outreach efforts. His activities at IQC include developing demonstration experiments (such as a ‘dust ion trap’) and conducting lab visits especially for young students. He is a co-founder of bigyan.org , a leading online science outreach platform in the Bengali (বাংলা) language. Bigyan (বিজ্ঞান, means science in Bengali) initiatives have been highlighted in Indian national media (such as NDTV and IndiaBioscience ).

Publications

34. Achieving 1E-5 level relative intensity crosstalk in optical holographic qubit addressing via a double-pass digital micromirror device

Shilpa Mahato , Rajibul Islam

arXiv:2512.13882

33. A Room-Temperature Extreme High Vacuum System for Trapped-Ion Quantum Information Processing

Lewis Hahn , Nikhil Kotibhaskar , Fabien Lefebvre , Sakshee Patil , Sainath Motlakunta , Mahmood Sabooni , Rajibul Islam

arXiv:2512.11794

32. Optical field characterization at the fundamental limit of spatial resolution with a trapped ion

Nikhil Kotibhaskar , Sainath Motlakunta , Anthony Vogliano , Lewis Hahn , Rajibul Islam

arXiv:2509.07214 [Link]

31. pySLM2: A full-stack python package for holographic beam shaping

Chung-You Shih , Jingwen Zhu , Rajibul Islam

The Journal of Open Source Software 9(104), 6315 (2024)

30. Preserving a qubit during state-destroying operations on an adjacent qubit at a few micrometers distance

Sainath Motlakunta , Nikhil Kotibhaskar , Chung-You Shih , Anthony Vogliano , Darian McLaren , Lewis Hahn , Jingwen Zhu , Roland Hablützel , Rajibul Islam

Nature Communications 15, 6575 (2024)

29. Programmable XY-type couplings through parallel spin-dependent forces on the same trapped ion motional modes

Nikhil Kotibhaskar , Chung-You Shih , Sainath Motlakunta , Anthony Vogliano , Lewis Hahn , Yu-Ting Chen , Rajibul Islam

Physical Review Research 6, 033038 (2024)

28. Microgram BaCl_2 Ablation Targets for Trapped Ion Experiments

Noah Greenberg, Akbar Jahangiri Jozani , Collin JC Epstein, Xinghe Tan , Rajibul Islam , Crystal Senko

Review of Scientific Instruments 95, 045117 (2024) arXiv:2402.06632

27. Investigations of 2D ion crystals in a hybrid optical cavity trap for quantum information processing

Zewen Sun , Yi Hong Teoh , Fereshteh Rajabi , Rajibul Islam

Phys. Rev. A 109, 032426 (2024) arXiv:2308.09231

26. A guided light system for agile individual addressing of Ba+ qubits with 1E-4 level intensity crosstalk

Ali Binai-Motlagh , Matthew Day , Nikolay Videnov , Noah Greenberg, Crystal Senko, Rajibul Islam

Quantum Science and Technology 8, 045012 (2023) arXiv:2302.14711

25. Ion Trap Long-Range XY Model for Quantum State Transfer and Optimal Spatial Search

Dylan Lewis, Leonardo Banchi, Yi Hong Teoh , Rajibul Islam , Sougato Bose

Quantum Science and Technology 8, 035025 (2023) arXiv:2206.13685

24. Fast and high-yield fabrication of axially symmetric ion-trap needle electrodes via two step electrochemical etching

Nikhil Kotibhaskar , Noah Greenberg, Sainath Motlakunta , Chung-You Shih , Rajibul Islam

Review of Scientific Instruments 94, 033201 (2023) arXiv:2206.14784

23. Limits on atomic qubit control from laser noise

Matthew L. Day , Pei Jiang Low, Brendan M White, Rajibul Islam , Crystal Senko

npj Quantum Information 8, 72 (2022) arXiv:2112.04946

22. Simulating a measurement-induced phase transition for trapped ion circuits

Stefanie Czischek, Giacomo Torlai, Sayonee Ray, Rajibul Islam , Roger G. Melko

Phys. Rev. A 104, 062405 (2021) arXiv:2106.03769

21. Manipulating phonons of a trapped-ion system using optical tweezers

Yi Hong Teoh , Manas Sajjan , Zewen Sun , Fereshteh Rajabi , Rajibul Islam

Phys. Rev. A 104, 022420 (2021) arXiv:2103.03273

20. Programming the full stack of an open-access quantum computer

Virginia Frey, Richard Rademacher, Elijah Durso-Sabina, Noah Greenberg, Nikolay Videnov , Matthew L. Day , Rajibul Islam , Crystal Senko

IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering arXiv:2106.06549

19. Reprogrammable and high-precision holographic optical addressing of trapped ions for scalable quantum control

Chung-You Shih , Sainath Motlakunta , Nikhil Kotibhaskar , Manas Sajjan , Roland Hablützel , Rajibul Islam

npj Quantum Information 7, 57 (2021)

18. Programmable Quantum Simulations of Spin Systems with Trapped Ions

C. Monroe, W. C. Campbell, L. M. Duan, Z. X. Gong, A. V. Gorshkov, P. Hess, R. Islam , K. Kim, G. Pagano, P. Richerme, C. Senko, N. Y. Yao

Reviews of Modern Physics 93, 2 (2021) arXiv:1912.07845

17. Machine learning design of a trapped-ion quantum spin simulator

Y. H. Teoh , M. Drygala, R. G. Melko, R. Islam

Quantum Sci. Technol. 5, 024001 (2020) arXiv:1910.02496

16. Dynamical Hamiltonian engineering of 2D rectangular lattices in a one-dimensional ion chain

F. Rajabi , S. Motlakunta , C. Shih , N. Kotibhaskar , Q. Quraishi, A. Ajoy, R. Islam

npj Quantum Information 5, 32 (2019) arXiv:1808.06124

15. Single-Atom Heat Machines Enabled by Energy Quantization

D. Gelbwaser-Klimovsky, A. Bylinskii, D. Gangloff, R. Islam , A. Aspuru-Guzik, V. Vuletic

Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 170601 (2018) arXiv:1705.11180

14. Multislip Friction with a Single Ion

I. Counts, D. Gangloff, A. Bylinskii, J. Hur, R. Islam , V. Vuletić

Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 043601 (2017) arXiv:1705.00716

13. Ultra-precise holographic beam shaping for microscopic quantum control

P. Zupancic, P. M. Preiss, R. Ma, A. Lukin, M. Eric Tai, M. Rispoli, R. Islam , M. Greiner

Opt. Express 24, 13881 (2016) arXiv:1604.07653

12. Measuring entanglement entropy in a quantum many-body system

R. Islam , R. Ma, P. M. Preiss, M. Eric Tai, A. Lukin, M. Rispoli, M. Greiner

Nature 528, 77-83 (2015) arXiv:1509.01160

11. Strongly correlated quantum walks in optical lattices

P. M. Preiss, R. Ma, M. E. Tai, A. Lukin, M. Rispoli, P. Zupancic, Y. Lahini, R. Islam , M. Greiner

Science 347, 1229-1233 (2015) arXiv:1409.3100

10. Beat note stabilization of mode-locked lasers for quantum information processing

R. Islam , W. C. Campbell, T. Choi, S. M. Clark, C. W. S. Conover, S. Debnath, E. E. Edwards, B. Fields, D. Hayes, D. Hucul, I. V. Inlek, K. G. Johnson, S. Korenblit, A. Lee, K. W. Lee, T. A. Manning, D. N. Matsukevich, J. Mizrahi, Q. Quraishi, C. Senko, J. Smith, C. Monroe

Opt. Lett. 39, 3238 (2014) arXiv:1312.6846

9. Quantum Catalysis of Magnetic Phase Transitions in a Quantum Simulator

P. Richerme, C. Senko, S. Korenblit, J. Smith, A. Lee, R. Islam , W. C. Campbell, C. Monroe

Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 100506 (2013) arXiv:1303.6983

8. Emergence and Frustration of Magnetism with Variable-Range Interactions in a Quantum Simulator

R. Islam , C. Senko, W. C. Campbell, S. Korenblit, J. Smith, A. Lee, E. E. Edwards, C. C. J. Wang, J. K. Freericks, C. Monroe

Science 340, 583-587 (2013) arXiv:1210.0142

7. Quantum simulation of spin models on an arbitrary lattice with trapped ions

S Korenblit, D Kafri, W C Campbell, R Islam , E E Edwards, Z-X Gong, G-D Lin, L-M Duan, J Kim, K Kim, C. Monroe

New Journal of Physics 14, 095024 (2012) arXiv:1201.0776

6. Quantum Simulation of Interacting Spin Models With Trapped Ions

Kazi Rajibul Islam, PhD dissertation .

University of Maryland - College Park [Download]

5. Onset of a quantum phase transition with a trapped ion quantum simulator

R. Islam , E. Edwards, K. Kim, S. Korenblit, C. Noh, H. Carmichael, G. Lin, L. Duan, C. Joseph Wang, J. Freericks, C. Monroe

Nat Commun 2, 377 (2011) arXiv:1103.2400

4. Quantum simulation and phase diagram of the transverse-field Ising model with three atomic spins

E. E. Edwards, S. Korenblit, K. Kim, R. Islam , M. Chang, J. K. Freericks, G. Lin, L. Duan, C. Monroe

Physical Review B 82, 6 (060412) (2010) arXiv:1005.4160

3. Quantum simulation of frustrated Ising spins with trapped ions

K. Kim, M. Chang, S. Korenblit, R. Islam , E. E. Edwards, J. K. Freericks, G. Lin, L. Duan, C. Monroe

Nature 465, 590-593 (2010) arXiv:1912.07845

2. Entanglement and Tunable Spin-Spin Couplings between Trapped Ions Using Multiple Transverse Modes

K. Kim, M. Chang, R. Islam , S. Korenblit, L. Duan, C. Monroe

Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 120502 (2009) arXiv:0905.0225

1. Large-scale quantum computation in an anharmonic linear ion trap

G. Lin, S. Zhu, R. Islam , K. Kim, M. Chang, S. Korenblit, C. Monroe, L. Duan

Europhys. Lett. 86, 60004 (2009) arXiv:0901.0579