Dr. Mackillo Kira · University of Michigan

November 12, 2026
12:45 PM - 1:45 PM, CHTM, Room 103 & Zoom

About the Speaker

Mackillo (Mack) Kira is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan, with a joint appointment in Physics. He develops predictive many-body and quantum optics theory to quantitatively analyze and guide experiments and to accelerate device breakthroughs in quantum science and technology. Working closely with experimental collaborators, his research has advanced semiconductor quantum optics, quantum photonics and optoelectronics, lightwave electronics, quantum spectroscopy, and ultrafast coherent phenomena, including the development of the quantum dynamics cluster expansion approach and discoveries such as dropletons, quasiparticle accelerator, attoclock for quasiparticles, and exciton switch. He is Co-Director of U-M’s Quantum Research Institute (QRI), Director of the Midwest Quantum Collaboratory (MQC), and Director of the NSF National Quantum Virtual Laboratory (NQVL) Center for Quantum Photonic Integration and Deployment (QuPID). He earned his Ph.D. in 1996 from Helsinki University of Technology, held postdoctoral positions at Philipps University Marburg and KTH Royal Institute of Technology, served as a Professor of Physics at the University of Marburg from 2002–2016, and joined U-M in 2016.

Abstract

Lightwave electronics (LWE) is an emerging approach to classical and quantum information processing that leverages intense optical-carrier waves as ultrafast biasing fields to drive the quantum flow of electronic coherences within a fraction of a single oscillation cycle. By driving and reading out semiconductor quantum states on this timescale, LWE opens a route to controlling multi-electron dynamics at petahertz rates, far beyond the operating speeds of today’s electronics and qubit platforms. In this presentation, I will highlight theory–experiment advances that push lightwave control to new extremes: flipping valleytronic qubits within a few femtoseconds, driving Floquet-state crossings that produce Stückelberg oscillations in high-harmonic emission, and timing electronic correlation events with attosecond precision. These advances point toward quantum-coherent operations at petahertz clock rates, for both classical and quantum technologies. I will also introduce lightwave ionics, extending these ideas to drive ionic motion and switch ferroelectric polarization with intense terahertz lightwaves. Together, these extreme steps extend lightwave control from electronic coherences to ionic motion, and from probing quantum dynamics to commanding them.