I’m Kodai Morita, a first-year master’s student in Prof. T. Fukuhara’s group at Waseda University (Shinjuku, Japan) and RIKEN (Wako, Japan). My research focuses on the development of measurement and feedback systems in cold atom systems.

Prior to attending the 2026 Symposium of the JP-DE ASPIRE “Neutral-atom QC” in Germany, I stayed in Palaiseau, France, to visit the research group of Prof. A. Browaeys at the Institut d’Optique and the quantum computing company Pasqal. This visit was organized by Prof. T. Tomita of the Institute for Molecular Science (IMS), and I also joined the visit.

On September 24, we visited the Institut d’Optique. We were given explanations of four different research projects and had the opportunity to talk directly with the students in the research teams. I saw the state-of-the-art experimental setups that I had previously only known through research papers, and heard the overviews directly from the project members. It greatly improved my understanding of their work. Furthermore, observing unique and large-scale instruments and devices that we don’t typically use in our own laboratory helped me see new possibilities in laser optics experiments and gave me a lot of inspiration.

On the morning of September 25, we visited Pasqal. Initially, I was slightly nervous because it was a corporate R&D environment, which differs from academic institutions like universities. However, everyone at Pasqal welcomed us very warmly, and we enjoyed a friendly exchange. During the tour, we saw the labs where they design and build their own special devices for QPUs (Quantum Processing Units). I was very impressed to see that they create their own parts for special needs, instead of using commercial products, and I could feel their extraordinary passion and high technical expertise toward QPU development.

Professor Christian Gross also left a strong impression on me. He was always enthusiastic about discussing research—not only during meetings, but even over casual conversations at lunch. That energy made the group feel very lively and engaging. During my stay, I mentioned that I was interested in visiting labs at TU Darmstadt, and he encouraged me to go. Thanks to that, I visited two labs there and even gave a 45-minute seminar. Since I don’t often have the chance to give a full-length talk (even in japanese), doing it in English was a great experience for me.

I intend to utilize the new insights and connections gained from this visit in my future research activities. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to everyone at the Institut d’Optique and the staff at Pasqal for warmly welcoming us. I am also sincerely grateful to Prof. T. Tomita and all those involved in the ASPIRE program for organizing this visit and providing me with such a meaningful experience.