Keith George Ray

Portrait of Keith George Ray
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  • Title
    Research Scientist
  • Email
    ray30@llnl.gov
  • Phone
    (925) 423-8971
  • Organization
    Not Available

Research Interests

Dr. Ray's research interests pertain to the use of first principles calculations to build models that capture emergent properties in condensed matter systems, primarily for the fields of quantum computing, quantum materials, and energy materials. Emphases include the microscopic materials sources of electric and magnetic field noise, loss, and decoherence in superconducting qubits, ion trap qubits, color center qubits, and spin qubits. Other work has focused on quantum anomalous hall materials, metal organic frameworks, and calculating thermodynamic, kinetic, and x-ray absorption properties of complex metal hydride H2 storage materials. 

 Dr. Ray is the LLNL lead on Modeling, Probing, and Controlling Quantum Coherence in Materials, a Basic Energy Sciences (BES) funded project with the University of Wisconsin. Other current work includes investigating the materials sources of decoherence in Josephson junctions for superconducting qubits. 

Highlights 

https://www.llnl.gov/article/54061/finding-resonance-how-llnl-expertise-amplifying-collaboration-quantum-computing 

https://pls.llnl.gov/research-and-development/physics/using-quantum-probes 

https://www.llnl.gov/article/49436/going-small-thin-better-hydrogen-storage 

https://www.llnl.gov/archive/news/hydrogen-storage-reactions-reveal-complex-dance-toward-faster-uptake 

https://www.llnl.gov/article/48171/disorder-surface-materials-key-better-hydrogen-storage 

https://www.llnl.gov/article/43136/scientific-team-develops-nano-sized-hydrogen-storage-system-increase-efficiency 

https://www.llnl.gov/article/41641/its-solid-storing-hydrogen-new-form 

Subject Matter Expertise  

Computational condensed matter physics, materials science, density functional theory, molecular dynamics, self-interaction corrections, many-body perturbation theory, topological materials, defects, disordered materials, surfaces and interfaces, materials for quantum computing and energy storage 

Ph.D., Physics, University of California at Berkeley

M.A., Physics, University of California at Berkeley

B.A., Mathematics and Physics, University of California at Berkeley

Google Scholar Profile 
 
Selected publications 

  1. P. Corbae, A. Abelson, S. Srivastava, H. Lee, B. Huang, L. R. J. Lee, D. B. Rash, C.-T. Kuo, D. Lu, M. Pendharkar, L. D. Alegria, T. T. Li, K. G. Ray, S. P. Harvey, A. Mehta, D. I. Schuster, V. Lordi, P. B. Welander, J.-S. Lee, “Probing Coordination Environments in Buried Oxides of Aluminum Josephson Junctions by Resonant X-ray Reflectivity,” arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.01364 (2026) 
    https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.01364 

  1. K. G. Ray, Y. J. Rosen, J. L Dubois, V. Lordi, “Field-Dependent Qubit Flux Noise Simulated from Materials-Specific Disordered Exchange Interactions Between Paramagnetic Adsorbates,” arXiv:2602.09471 (2026) 
    https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.09471

  1. L. Tom, Z. J. Krebs, J. B. Varley, E. S. Joseph, W. A. Behn, M. A. Eriksson, K. G. Ray, V. Lordi, S. N. Coppersmith, V. W. Brar, M. Friesen, “A scanning probe microscopy approach for identifying defects in aluminum oxide,” arXiv:2512.22369 (2025) 
    https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.22369

  1. R. Vidrio, C. Saucedo, V. Lordi, S. Kolkowitz, K. G. Ray, R. J. Hamers, J. T. Choy, “Subnanometer Thick Native sp2 Carbon on Oxidized Diamond Surfaces,” Langmuir 41, 27133 (2025) 
    https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c02616 

  1. V. Iaia, E. S. Joseph, S. Im, N. Hagopian, S. O'Kelley, C.-E. Kim, N. Materise, S. Patra, V. Lordi, M. A. Eriksson, P. M. Voyles, K. G. Ray, Y. J. Rosen, “Non-equilibrium Dynamics of Two-level Systems directly after Cryogenic Alternating Bias,” arXiv:2509.19223 (2025) 
    https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.19223 

  1. W. V. Taylor, L. E. Klebanoff, K. G. Ray, S. Li, Z. Zhuo, M.-J. Kim, C. Dun, A. C. Johnson, M. A. T. Marple, F. El Gabaly, J. J. Urban, J. Guo, B. C. Wood, V. Stavila, M. D. Allendorf, “Decoding the Desorption Mechanism of 2LiH:1Mg(NH2)2 Using Metal Borohydrides,” ACS Applied Energy Materials 8, 10379(2025) 
    https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acsaem.5c01297 

  1. M. D. Witman, K. P. Brooks, S. J. Sprik, B. C. Wood, T. W. Heo, K. G. Ray, L. E. Klebanoff, A. Acosta, V. Stavila, M. D. Allendorf, “A Bulk versus Nanoscale Hydrogen Storage Paradox Revealed by Material‐System Co‐Design,” Advanced Functional Materials 34, 2411763 (2024) 
    https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/adfm.202411763 

  1. D.-X. Qu, J. J. Cuozzo, N. E. Teslich, K. G. Ray, Z. Dai, T. T. Li, G. F. Chapline, J. L. DuBois, E. Rossi, “Phase-Slip Lines and Anomalous Josephson Effects in Tungsten Nanoscale Cluster-Based Topological Insulator Nanobridges: Implications for Topologically Protected Qubits and Quantum Sensors,” ACS Applied Nano Materials 7, 3702 (2024) 
    https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acsanm.3c05111 

  1. L. A. Martinez, G. Qiu, P. Deng, P. Zhang, K. G. Ray, L. Tai, M.-T. Wei, H. He, K. L Wang, J. L DuBois, D.-X. Qu, “Edge magnetoplasmon dispersion and time-resolved plasmon transport in a quantum anomalous Hall insulator,” Physical Review Research 6, 013081 (2024) 
    https://journals.aps.org/prresearch/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.013081 

  1. Y. Cho, D. Jasrasaria, K. G. Ray, D. M. Tennant, V. Lordi, J. L DuBois, Y. J. Rosen, “Simulating noise on a quantum processor: interactions between a qubit and resonant two-level system bath,” Quantum Science and Technology 8, 045023 (2023) https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2058-9565/acf685/meta 

  1. J. B. Varley, K. G. Ray, V. Lordi, “Dangling Bonds as Possible Contributors to Charge Noise in Silicon and Silicon–Germanium Quantum Dot Qubits,” ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 15, 43111 (2023) https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsami.3c06725 

  1. R. Vidrio, D. Vincent, B. Bachman, C. Saucedo, M. Zahedian, Z. Xu, J. Lai, T. A. Grotjohn, S. Kolkowitz, J.-H. Seo, R. J. Hamers, K. G. Ray, Z. Ma, J. T. Choy, “XPS analysis of molecular contamination and sp2 amorphous carbon on oxidized (100) diamond,” arXiv:2304.02217 (2023) https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.02217 

  1. M. Shivanna, J.-J. Zheng, K. G. Ray, S. Lto, H. Ashitani, Y. Kubota, S. Kawaguchi, V. Stavila, M.-S. Yao, T. Fujikawa, K.-I. Otake, S. Kitagawa, “Selective sorption of oxygen and nitrous oxide by an electron donor-incorporated flexible coordination network,” Nature Communications Chemistry 6, 62 (2023) https://www.nature.com/articles/s42004-023-00853-1 

  1. H. Gunda, K. G. Ray, L. E. Klebanoff, C. Dun, M. A. T. Marple, S. Li, P. Sharma, R. W. Friddle, J. D Sugar, J. L. Snider, R. D. Horton, B. C. Davis, J. M. Chames, Y.‐S. Liu, J. Guo, H. E. Mason, J. J. Urban, B. C. Wood, M. D. Allendorf, K. Jasuja, V. Stavila, “Hydrogen storage in partially exfoliated magnesium diboride multilayers,” Small 19 (6), 2205487 (2023) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/smll.202205487 

  1. D.-X. Qu, J. J. Cuozzo, N. E. Teslich, K. G. Ray, Z. Dai, T. T. Li, G. F. Chapline, J. L. DuBois, E. Rossi, “Phase-Slip Lines and Anomalous Josephson Effects in a Tungsten Clusters-Topological Insulator Microbridge,” arXiv:2301.00086 (2022) https://arxiv.org/abs/2301.00086 

  1. M. Berlin-Udi, C. Matthiesen, P. N. T. Lloyd, A. M. Alonso, C. Noel, B. Saarel, C. A. Orme, C.-E, Kim, A. J. Nelson, K. G. Ray, V. Lordi, H. Häffner, “Changes in electric field noise due to thermal transformation of a surface ion trap,” Phys. Rev. B 106, 035409 (2022) https://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.106.035409 

  1. K. G. Ray, L. E. Klebanoff, V. Stavila, S. Kang, L. F. Wan, S. Li, T. W. Heo, M. D. Allendorf, J. R. I. Lee, A. A. Baker, B. C. Wood, “Understanding Hydrogenation Chemistry at MgB2 Reactive Edges from Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics,” ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 14, 20430 (2022) https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acsami.1c23524 

  1. B. L. Foulon, K. G. Ray, C. E. Kim, Y. Liu, B. M. Rubenstein, V. Lordi, “1/w electric-field noise in surface ion traps from correlated adsorbate dynamics,” Physical Review A 105 (1), 013107 (2022) 
    https://journals.aps.org/pra/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevA.105.013107 

  1. S. Li, H. Gunda, K. G. Ray, C.-S. Wong, P. Xiao, R. W. Friddle, Y.-S. Liu, S. Kang, C. Dun, J. D. Sugar, R. D. Kolasinski, L. F. Wan, A. A. Baker, J. R. I. Lee, J. J. Urban, K. Jasuja, M. D. Allendorf, V. Stavila, B. C. Wood, “Spontaneous dynamical disordering of borophenes in MgB2 and related metal borides,” Nature communications 12 (1), 1-12 (2021) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26512-4 

  1. C. E. Kim, K. G. Ray, V. Lordi, “A density-functional theory study of the Al/AlOx/Al tunnel junction,” Journal of applied physics 128 (15), 155102 (2020) 
    https://aip.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1063/5.0020292 

  1. Y-S Liu, K G Ray, M Jørgensen, T M Mattox, D F Cowgill, H V Eshelman, A M Sawvel, J L Snider, W York, P Wijeratne, A L Pham, H Gunda, S Li, T W Heo, S Kang, T R Jensen, V Stavila, B C Wood, L E Klebanoff, “Nanoscale Mg–B via Surfactant Ball Milling of MgB2: Morphology, Composition, and Improved Hydrogen Storage Properties,” The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 124, 21761 (2020) https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c05142 

  1. K. G. Ray, B. M. Rubenstein, W. Gu, V. Lordi, “van der Waals-corrected density functional study of electric field noise heating in ion traps caused by electrode surface adsorbates,” New Journal of Physics 21, 053043 (2019) https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1367-2630/ab1875 

  1. W A Braunecker, K E Hurst, K G Ray, Z R Owczarczyk, M B Martinez, N Leick, A Keuhlen, A Sellinger, J C Johnson, ”Phenyl/perfluorophenyl stacking interactions enhance structural order in two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks,” Crystal Growth & Design 18 (7), 4160-4166 (2018) https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.cgd.8b00630 

  1. N. Adelstein, D. Lee, J. L DuBois, K. G. Ray, J. B. Varley, V. Lordi, “Magnetic Stability of Oxygen Defects on the SiO2 Surface,” AIP Advances 7, 025110 (2017) http://aip.scitation.org/doi/abs/10.1063/1.4977194 

  1. K. G. Ray, L. E. Klebanoff, J. R. I. Lee, V. Stavila, S. Kang, T. Autrey, M. Chong, M. Bagge-Hanson, J. White, P. Shea, B. C. Wood, “Elucidating the Mechanisms of MgB2 Initial Hydrogenation via a Combined Experiment-Theory Study,” Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 19, 22646, (2017) https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2017/cp/c7cp03709k 

  • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Physical and Life Sciences Outstanding Postdoctoral Fellow Award (2017) 

  • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Physical and Life Sciences Best Poster Award (2017) 

Memberships 

APS, MRS, ACS 

Professional services 

Reviewer for ACS journals, RSC journals, JSVT A