2021 Arthur S. Flemming Award - John Teufel

Dr. John D. Teufel is a world leader in the field of quantum optomechanics. His innovations over the last decade have tested fundamental physics and will help enable the future of quantum information. He has used his novel technologies to address important problems facing quantum information science, in particular the formation of quantum networks. Dr. Teufel's work has provided key demonstrations of strong optomechanical coupling between microwave circuits and mechanical resonators, leading to one of the first demonstrations of cooling of a mechanical system to its quantum-mechanical ground state. Recently, Dr. Teufel has experimentally tested the limits o f quantum mechanics, showing that macroscopic objects can be highly quantum mechanically coupled ("entangled"). He has engineered practical solutions for controlling cryogenic quantum systems over photonic links. His demonstrated ideas for optomechanical coupling to microwave circuits underpin schemes for "quantum transduction," converting a quantum state between two different technologies, which is essential for the creation of a quantum communications network, a key component of national policy described in the National Quantum Initiative.