Konrad Lehnert is the Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics at Yale University and a member of the Yale Quantum Institute and Wright Lab. An experimental condensed matter physicist, he builds electrical and electromechanical machines and coaxes them into exhibiting quantum behavior, probing one of the most striking questions in physics: what is the largest and most tangible object that can be in two places at once?
His research advances the storage, processing, and transmission of information in an essentially quantum way, alongside the development of measurement tools capable of sensing feeble forces and electrical signals at the quantum-mechanical limit. His group is known for cooling mechanical oscillators to their quantum ground state and entangling them with electrical circuits, and his techniques have been applied to challenges as far-reaching as the search for dark matter. Before joining Yale in 2024, he spent roughly two decades at JILA, the joint institute of the University of Colorado Boulder and NIST, where he rose to Fellow and served as Chair from 2022 to 2024.
As a member of the SMART America Institute, Lehnert brings deep experimental expertise in quantum technologies to the Institute's mission of advancing the responsible development and governance of emerging technologies toward the public good.
