quantum sensing
-
New trapped-atom qubit technology translates to industry-ready quantum computing product
A team of engineers and physicists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison led by Mikhail Kats and Mark Saffman have developed an ingenious method for trapping atoms of different species to make qubits. Capturing two types of neutral atoms next to each other, the method creates interleaved grids of cesium and rubidium atoms that can be used as qubits in quantum computing and quantum sensing. The setup is much simpler and more cost-effective than previous efforts to isolate and form interleaved grids of atoms and is already being used in early-stage quantum devices. Read More
-
Five years of next-generation quantum research at Q-NEXT
As Q-NEXT approaches its five-year anniversary, we capture a dozen of the collaboration's many outstanding research results. In quantum materials, communication, sensing and computing, Q-NEXT is advancing technologies that are expected to change how we exchange information. Read More
-
Higher control over high-frequency superconducting qubits
A research team shows how to control individual photons at millimeter-wave frequencies using a special qubit. The breakthrough could open a new part of the electromagnetic spectrum for quantum technologies. Read More
-
New biosensor solves old quantum riddle
From University of Chicago: UChicago’s Peter Maurer and team encase a diamond nanoparticle with a specially engineered shell to create a quantum biosensor ideal for a living cell. Read More
-
Andrew Cleland receives high honor for low-temperature physics
From University of Chicago: Andrew Cleland the University of Chicago has been named the winner of the 2025 Olli V. Lounasmaa Memorial Prize. Read More
-
Molecular engineering and battery recycling: developing new technologies in quantum, medicine and energy
From the Physics World podcast: Nadya Mason, dean of the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, talks about how scientists are engineering molecules to develop next-generation quantum technologies, the challenges of quantum information research, and the quantum ecosystem. Read More
-
What is quantum coherence?
A quantum explainer: Preserving coherence keeps quantum systems clear and comprehensible. In working to extend coherence, scientists can better sync up quantum objects for high-resolution sensing and complex computation Read More
-
Decoding the Universe: Quantum
From PBS' Nova: David Awschalom and Nadya Mason appear in PBS’s Nova: ‘Decoding the Universe: Quantum’. The episode takes the viewer through the quantum physics' important discoveries, discoveries that paved the way for the digital technologies we enjoy today – and the powerful quantum sensors and computers of tomorrow. Read More
-
Building the quantum economy - Chicago style
From HPCWire: HPCwire talks with Q-NEXT Director David Awschalom about the evolution of the quantum information technology market, the prospects for quantum computing sensing and communication, the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, current messaging on a quantum future, quantum startups, and the quantum workforce. Read More
-
A new atomic magnetometer
Scientists develop a device that uses silicon-on-sapphire nanophotonics for atomic sensing, advancing the capabilities of quantum sensors. Read More
-
David Awschalom wins global Breakthrough of the Year award
David Awschalom, Q-NEXT Chief Science Officer and the Liew Family Professor of Quantum Engineering and Physics at the University of Chicago, received the prestigious Falling Walls Science Breakthrough of the Year in Physical Sciences for a pioneering body of work that broke the wall between quantum technology, molecules, and proteins. Read More
-
Helium lifts new quantum computing concept
A team led by Jacob Covey, who is part of Q-NEXT and is an Associate Professor at the University of Chicago, laid out a new concept that could turn helium’s light weight into the next generation of quantum computers. The design relies on helium-3, an isotope with different quantum properties than the helium-4 used to cool MRI machines and fill party balloons. Once built, the computer could use high-powered lasers as “optical tweezers” to capture and control individual atoms of helium. Read More
-
Researchers make materials that support quantum technology
Researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who are part of Q-NEXT are engineering material systems that support quantum technology. Chris Anderson and his team are developing materials for quantum transduction — the conversion of quantum information from one form to another. Elizabeth Goldschmidt, Daniel Shoemaker, and colleagues are developing quantum memory technology that stores quantum information for extended periods of time. Read More
-
Silicon Chip Offers New Way to Probe Quantum Materials in Strong Magnetic Fields
Scientists have created a silicon chip that can detect the electrical behavior of very small materials by using very high-frequency waves. The chip is made only from silicon and other non-superconducting materials and still performs very well when cooled from room temperature down to about 4 Kelvin. Read More
-
Making quantum bits ready to use again much sooner
Scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Intel have found that a simple electrical pulse can quickly push a quantum dot qubit out of a latched state and return it to its starting condition with very high reliability. Read More
-
Q-NEXT-developed open-source software receives 2026 R&D 100 award
SeQUeNCe, a free, open-source software developed by Argonne scientists with Q-NEXT support, is one of seven Argonne projects that received a 2026 R&D 100 Award. The SeQUeNCe software lets researchers test how quantum networks might work before building them. Read More
-
Researchers generate spontaneous magnons that synchronize with external signals
Researchers at Argonne and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign demonstrate a method for generating stable ripples in magnetic materials called magnons. The work opens avenues for information processing in microelectronics and quantum devices. Read More
-
Uncovering the hidden disorder in silicon quantum computers
From the U.S. Department of Energy: Q-NEXT researchers map the variation in materials to the atom level to scale up silicon qubits Read More
-
Color centers in high-purity diamond
Researchers mapped how electron irradiation makes defects inside diamond, finding that creating more vacancies does not always produce more NV centers. Too many vacancies can form unwanted defects. This result can inform advances in quantum sensing. Read More
-
Containing multitudes: SLAC scientist collaborates to create scalable qubits
At SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Q-NEXT collaborator Shannon Harvey develops quantum dots — a mass-producible type of qubit. Driven by curiosity about nature and how things work, Harvey draws on her facility for working at the nanoscale. Read More