Research at QDev
The Center for Quantum Devices (QDev, for short) studies how to create, control, measure, and protect quantum coherence and entanglement in solid-state electronic devices.
The miniaturization and scaling of modern electronics, yielding billions of transistors on a chip, has a quantum analog in which quantum states of transistors are made to interact, and hence become entangled, with the specificity of a computer algorithm.
The general power of such a device to communicate, compute, measure, and simulate physical and chemical systems is unknown. From known examples where entanglement serves as a resource, one can expect rich and surprising phenomena to emerge from such a device, reflecting the large space of quantum states compared to the number of classical states.
Once entanglement is brought under control and becomes a resource, the technological harvest has the potential to revolutionize communication, information processing, and simulation of quantum mechanical systems from novel superconducting materials to biomolecules.
 |
Spin Qubits and Quantum Dot Circuits
Interpreting controlled quantum systems as qubits connects problems of quantum coherence and entanglement to a set of fundamental questions connecting quantum mechanics and information science. In this context, sequences of operations that entangle pairs of quantum states constitute algorithms operating on information encoded into the quantum state of the system. Read more >> |
 |
Quantum Materials
Quantum materials is a research field at the intersection of materials science, condensed matter physics, device engineering, and quantum information. Beyond traditional quantum materials such as unconventional superconductors and heavy fermion systems, the field has recently expanded to encompass topological quantum matter, two-dimensional materials and heterostructures, Floquet time crystals, as well as materials and devices designed for quantum computation with Majorana fermions. Read more >> |
 |
Topological Quantum Systems
Recent insights into the role of topology in condensed matter systems has led to remarkable predictions of new classes of materials and excitations in solids, most of which remain unverified by experiment. An interactive theory/experiment/materials program to create, identify, and control non-abelian particles in condensed matter will be a major focus of the Center. Read more >> |
 |
Novel Devices
The nanoscale materials and experimental techniques used in quantum devices are useful also for other areas in physics and nanotechnology. QDev research leads to new types of devices and fabrication schemes. Staff in the Center collaborate with other groups on advanced applications. Read more >> |
|
Superconducting qubits are a leading approach to building a quantum computer.1 Recent work has demonstrated systems with 50-100 qubits. The key element of a superconducting qubit is the nonlinear, nondissipative Josephson junction that is usually made from aluminum/aluminum oxide/aluminum layers. Read more >> |
Controlled Quantum Systems
It is not known how powerful fully controlled quantum systems are; the question is itself a new branch of theoretical computer science.
It is a remarkable situation that the dual challenges of building large controlled interacting quantum devices and understanding their power is developing side by side.
At QDev, projects and ideas are intertwined, and we anticipate students, postdocs, staff, and visitors moving between specific implementations and inventing hybrid technologies by combining approaches.