Enabling Quantum Leap: Q-AMASE-i: Quantum Foundry at UCSB

University Of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA

Investigators

Abstract

Nontechnical Abstract: This project establishes the Quantum Foundry at UC Santa Barbara---a next generation foundry that develops materials and interfaces hosting the coherent quantum states needed to power the coming age of quantum-based electronics. Emerging technological frontiers in quantum computation, quantum sensing, and other quantum information-based applications require moving beyond conventional electronics, which address only a single classical state (e.g. a bit), and to instead access multiple superimposed or entangled quantum states (e.g. a quantum bit). Harnessing this multistate paradigm of quantum information requires the development of new materials that are capable of both hosting these complex quantum states and of protecting their information from being lost via environmental decoherence. The Quantum Foundry addresses this challenge through (1) the creation of tools for creating and measuring materials possessing protected quantum coherent states and (2) through developing these materials such that the decoherence of their controlled quantum states can be avoided. Research conducted in the Foundry develops materials that host quantum electronic states with natively protected coherence, further stabilizes these protected states at interfaces, and also engineers the means of propagating their quantum coherence into conventional information networks. These topics are core interests of the Foundry's industrial partners, all of whom are intertwined within all levels of the Foundry's operations to maximize its impact in the growing quantum information technologies sector. Key to this is the Foundry's program of training a diverse quantum workforce capable of driving innovation at the frontiers of this new sector. In particular, a reimagined and interdisciplinary program of graduate training in quantum information science combined with quantum-based undergraduate research training and outreach activities targeted at diverse communities is a focus of the Quantum Foundry's mission. Technical Abstract: This project establishes a materials foundry for the coming age of quantum information-based electronics. Through integrating a convergent array of interdisciplinary expertise, enabling critical new tool development, and leveraging a vast network of materials development infrastructure at UCSB and with network partners, the Quantum Foundry at UC Santa Barbara aims to develop the materials required to form the backbone of quantum information-based devices and applications (e.g., quantum-based computing and sensing). Key to realizing this vision, the Foundry develops both bulk crystalline and thin film materials that natively host quantum electronic states with protected coherence (such as non-abelian anyon states), functionalizes these and other entangled/superposition states at scalable interfaces, and engineers the means of propagating their quantum coherence across networks. Examples range from the development of new forms of topological superconductors hosting topologically protected non-abelian states to developing platforms for manipulating highly coherent, localized quantum states. The Foundry innovates and harnesses new tools for growing pristine materials that engender coherent quantum states as well as new instruments for characterizing their coherence and entanglement. Interdisciplinary theoretical, computational, and data science efforts further underpin and guide the Foundry's research, and industrial partners are intertwined throughout the Foundry's operation. Synergies with these industry partners are core to the Foundry's vision of accelerating the development of the nation's quantum technologies economic sector, and a key goal of the Foundry is the training of a quantum-capable workforce. The Foundry's novel graduate training program in quantum information science and its quantum-based undergraduate research training/outreach activities are targeted at building a diverse, next generation workforce---one capable of harnessing the scientific and commercial opportunities that arise as quantum-based technologies develop. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.