University of Wisconsin–Madison
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A compact, fiber-connected quantum networking node
Researchers build a compact, fiber-connected quantum networking node that efficiently collects photons while creating high-quality atom-photon entanglement. The reproducible, cavity-free design could help scale future quantum networks and repeaters. Read More
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Neutral atom computers: the physics of Rydberg quantum gates | Mark Saffman
From 632nm: Mark Saffman, professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and chief scientist at Infleqtion, discusses the physics of optical tweezers and Rydberg gates, how neutral atoms perform quantum logic and create entanglement, and why this platform offers advantages in connectivity and scalability. Read More
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Trapping atoms with the help of silicon on sapphire
Researchers create chip-compatible metasurfaces that can transform a single laser beam into large arrays of bright and dark optical traps, offering a compact, scalable, low-noise way to control atoms for quantum computing and quantum sensing. Read More
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Tiancheng Song earns DOE Early Career award
Tiancheng Song of the University of Wisconsin–Madison wins a DOE Early Career Research Program award to explore superconductors for next-generation quantum devices. Read More
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Measuring neutral atom qubits - high fidelity, low loss
Background-free imaging of single cesium atoms is achieved while keeping them ultracold, allowing nearly perfect identification of their hyperfine states with very high fidelity and low loss. A refined version of the method could push fidelity even higher in microseconds. Read More
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Mark Saffman awarded 2026 APS Ramsey Prize
From the University of Wisconsin–Madison: Mark Saffman wins the Ramsey Prize “for seminal developments of quantum information processing with neutral atoms that allow the investigation of many-body problems that are intractable by classical computing.” Read More
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Modeling complex molecules
Researchers develop a quantum algorithm that makes it possible to model complex molecules accurately and efficiently on today’s small and error-prone quantum computers. Read More
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Using Grover's algorithm to efficiently prepare collective quantum states in optical cavities
From Phys.org: Mark Saffman and Omar Nagib at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, along with K. Mølmer at the University of Copenhagen, introduce a new strategy to prepare multipartite entangled states, called Dicke and Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states, in an optical cavity. Their approach relies on Grover's search algorithm. Read More
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Neutral-atom qubits with Mark Saffman
From The New Quantum Era podcast: University of Wisconsin–Madison Professor Infleqtion Chief Scientist Mark Saffman develops neutral-atom quantum computing platforms using Rydberg atom arrays. He explores the past, present and future of neutral atom quantum computing, its scalability, technological challenges, and opportunities for hybrid quantum systems. Read More
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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
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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