NSF awards $ 3 million for quantum physics and technology

University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers awarded three $ 3-million scholarships to advance interdisciplinary, high-risk, high-performance research in quantum physics and technology, National Science Foundation announced September 24th.

UW Chemistry Professor – Madison, Robert Hamers and physics teachers Mark Saffman and Victor Brar are the principal investigators of the three scholarships, including collaborators at UW – Madison, Princeton University and IBM. These three grants are part of NSF's RAISE-TAQS initiative, which aims to fund major breakthroughs in quantum physics. In 2016, the agency identified quantum research as one of its top 10 funding priorities.

With his UW-Madison colleagues in physics and electrical engineering, the Hamers project aims to develop new methods for analyzing individual molecules. The team will take advantage of well-understood structural defects in diamond crystals called NV centers. Under the right conditions, the NV center can authorize new types of chemical analysis using a property of the electrons known as spin. Part of the research will develop new methods of constructing diamonds with specific defects to support the work of chemical analysis.

Saffman will work in partnership with professors from UW – Madison's chemistry and electrical engineering and computer science departments to improve the processing and communication of quantum information. The team will use laser-cooled atoms as part of new devices designed to convert quantum states into light packets. Researchers will design and manufacture integrated optical chips to develop practical secure quantum communication systems.

Working with chemists and electrical engineers from Princeton University and experts in quantum computing at IBM, the Brar Group will pursue improvements in the materials underlying quantum computers. The team aims to detect and understand the microscopic sources of noise in existing devices – called superconducting qubits – that prevent quantum computers from being practical. Researchers will then pursue new materials or manufacturing techniques that can progressively improve the stability of quantum computers.