Reviewed by Alex SmithAug 17 2021
Funding for $5.4 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will help scientists from Cornell University and their collaborators to continue to develop sophisticated quantum science and technology.
Image Credit: Shutterstock.com/ Dmitriy Rybin
Cornell University heads two of 29 research works declared on July 23rd, 2021, by the DOE’s Office of Science. The financial support aids researchers who have been working to create the next generation of quantum smart devices and computer technology. According to Jennifer M. Granholm, the U.S. Secretary of Energy, these tools are crucial to resolving compelling national challenges.
Quantum science represents the next technological revolution and frontier in the information age, and America stands at the forefront. At DOE, we’re investing in the fundamental research, led by universities and our national labs, that will enhance our resiliency in the face of growing cyber threats and climate disasters, paving the path to a cleaner, more secure future.
Jennifer M. Granholm, U.S. Secretary of Energy
The Cornell project titled “Hybrid Quantum Magnonics for Transduction and Sensing” was awarded financial support of $1.8 million and is headed by Greg Fuchs, PhD ’07, associate professor of applied and engineering physics in the College of Engineering.
The aim of the study is to overcome one of the basic challenges of solid-state quantum technologies — the networking of quantum processors together for information transfer. The project also aims at quantum-improved sensing, which involves employing magnons — the magnetic excitations in ultra-low damping materials — to connect superconducting circuits to separate quantum bits.
The integration of desirable features from various quantum systems will result in the hybrid system making fresh opportunities for improved quantum functionality, including new interconnects for solid-state quantum bits, the control of large-scale quantum states and the capability to control the navigation of quantum information flow.
I’m excited to push magnetic materials into the quantum limit to enable new ways to make quantum devices. The project is fundamental, but the opportunity is to take advantage of the fact that magnetic materials are nonreciprocal, meaning they can enforce ‘one-way’ interactions. That is currently difficult in quantum systems.
Greg Fuchs, PhD, Associate Professor of Applied and Engineering Physics, College of Engineering
The collaborators of this study are Dan Ralph, the F.R. Newman Professor of Physics in the College of Arts and Sciences; Michael Flatté, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Iowa; and Ezekiel Johnston-Halperin, professor of physics at The Ohio State University.
The Cornell project titled “Planar System for Quantum Information” attracted $3.6 million in funding and is headed by Jie Shan, professor of applied and engineering physics (Cornell Engineering).
Shan and her colleagues will work to create moiré materials for quantum simulation, which are developed by overlaying 2D material layers with a lattice mismatch or small twist angle. Electrons are capable of tunneling between traps made by the moiré structure, offering the unmatched potential for simulation of interacting quantum particles in a solid-state platform.
Furthermore, the project seeks to develop advanced techniques for material synthesis and 2D assembly, like bulk crystal growth through a flux synthesis process and the formation of customized 2D heterostructures with on-demand control of rotation angle through dry transfer methods.
The co-principal investigators of the study are Kin Fai Mak, associate professor of physics in the College of Arts and Sciences, as well as collaborators from Columbia University, the University of Texas, Austin, and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, operated by Stanford University.