Quantum matter opens pathways towards energy and information handling via controlled interactions over wide-ranging energy and length scales. Adding an element of topological protection to quantum states furthermore offers the potential to realize digital operations far more tolerant of faults and interference. However, to engineer device architectures whose order parameters enable specific functionalities we need to tune the interactions responsible for the quantum coherences whose properties we wish to exploit. I will discuss the creation of hybrid materials in which superconductivity and magnetism interact through their particle-like topological excitations. Magnetic skyrmions inject flux tubes into superconductors, creating a bound pair of topological solitons. The observed coupling of spin and flux topologies demonstrates the viability of such architectures for engineering nontrivial topology in quantum matter. It offers an adaptable recipe to create and study topological superconductivity for quantum operations. Additionally, nano-skyrmions may serve as fundamental building blocks for quantum logic elements, with competitive scalability, controllability, and operation time scales.

Brief biography: Christos Panagopoulos received his PhD from the University of Cambridge (Trinity College) in 1997. He is the inaugural Investigator of the National Research Foundation and Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at the Nanyang Technological University, both in Singapore.