Danilo Angelone

The focus of my PhD project is on the development, fabrication, and testing of superconducting qubits specifically designed for the detection of single microwave photons. These qubits are based on gradiometric gralmonium qubits, which are very insensitive to magnetic field fluctuations and are made from granular aluminum due to its resilience to high magnetic fields.

The primary application of these qubits is the detection of single microwave photons, which is crucial for axion haloscope experiments. This research is part of the DarkQuantum project, funded by an ERC grant, and contributes to the larger Baby IAXO experiment, which aims to detect axions—hypothetical particles that could help explain the nature of dark matter.

The ability to detect single microwave photons with high sensitivity is essential for axion searches, particularly in the context of the hypothesis that axions may constitute or contribute to dark matter. My work focuses on optimizing qubit-based photon detection to advance the experimental tools available for fundamental physics research.