University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
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Quantum capital of the world: emerging field that could solve ‘unsolvable’ problems
From WGN News: Chicago is aiming to become the quantum capital of the world. Public and private investment, workforce efforts, tech startups, and collaboration across academia, government and industry are all helping position Illinois as a leader in the quantum revolution. The WGN news piece features Q-NEXT Director David Awschalom and Q-NEXT collaborator Pranav GQuantum capital of the world: Emerging field that could solve ‘unsolvable’ problems okhale of Infleqtion. Read More
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IQUIST Scholars: their experiences and how you can become one too
From the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: The Illinois Quantum Information Science and Technology Center announces the second year of the IQUIST Postdoctoral Scholar Program. The program gives selected scholars a chance to work with mentors to home in on research areas of high interest to them. Q-NEXT collaborator Jacob Covey, the program’s chair, said, “This program was created to attract talented candidates who may not have otherwise come to the University of Illinois.” Read More
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Quantum quarterbacks: Pritzker’s a ‘geek’ for computing science that Emanuel calls ‘cutting edge of the next generation’
From the Chicago Sun-Times: Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel are working to boost quantum research in Illinois and in Chicago. Governor Pritzker toured quantum labs at the University of Chicago in July and discussed QIS research with Q-NEXT Director David Awschalom and Q-NEXT members Hannes Bernien and Peter Maurer. Read More
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Physicist Nadya Mason appointed dean of Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering
From the University of Chicago: Experimental physicist Nadya Mason has been appointed dean of the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago, effective Oct. 1, 2023. A highly accomplished academic leader and elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, Mason is the Rosalyn S. Yalow professor of physics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she specializes in experimental studies of materials. Read More
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Chitambar group establishes criterion for nonlocal quantum behavior in networks
From the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: In a study published in Physical Review Letters, Q-NEXT thrust lead Eric Chitambar and Amanda Gatto Lamas adapt techniques from quantum computing theory to create a new classification scheme for quantum nonlocality. This not only allowed the researchers to unify prior studies of the concept into a common framework, but it facilitated a proof that networked quantum systems can display nonlocality only if they possess a particular set of quantum features. Read More
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Nadya Mason named a ‘Researcher to Know’
From the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: The experimental physicist, diversity advocate, and Beckman Institute director makes the Illinois Science & Technology Coalition’s list of Researchers to Know in 2022 for her “groundbreaking research driving innovation in the state.” Read More
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IQUIST-NRIK collaboration to build the first quantum network with open-air links
From the Illinois Quantum Information Science and Technology Center: Q-NEXT research lead Paul Kwiat has joined an initiative led by the National Research Institute of Korea in which researchers will construct a distributed quantum network connecting nodes separated by 20 kilometers. Read More
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Scientists turn a nanowire with exotic currents into a probe for magnetism
From UIUC: A team of researchers led by Vidya Madhavan at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign added a twist to their scanning tunneling microscope by replacing the tip with a nanowire made from an exotic material. They use the nanowire to image magnetic features in an approach that has potential advantages compared to other methods. The team plans to modify the nanowire to see if it can reveal even more material features or, for example, detect particles called Majorana fermions, which have long been proposed as the basis for novel quantum computing devices. Read More
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Elizabeth Goldschmidt: creating quantum memories
Goldschmidt’s lab is a playground for controlling particles of light to build new ways to store quantum information. A professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, she’s helping develop the quantum communication technologies of the future. Read More
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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