PPPL unveils new laboratory space to advance quantum information science

On March 11, PPPL opened its new Quantum Diamond Lab, a space devoted to studying and refining the processes involved in using plasma, the electrically charged fourth state of matter, to create high-quality diamond material for quantum information science applications.

New quantum entangled material could pave way for ultrathin quantum technologies

Two-dimensional quantum materials provide a unique platform for new quantum technologies, because they offer the flexibility of combining different monolayers featuring radically distinct quantum states. Different two-dimensional materials can provide building blocks with features like superconductivity, magnetism, and topological matter.…

Three Argonne scientists receive 2023 DOE Early Career Awards

Argonne researchers received three DOE Early Career Awards, which will help early-career researchers establish themselves as experts in their fields.

Unveiling the quantum dance: Experiments reveal nexus of vibrational and electronic dynamics

Scientists have demonstrated experimentally a long-theorized relationship between electron and nuclear motion in molecules, which could lead to the design of materials for solar cells, electronic displays and other applications that can make use of this powerful quantum phenomenon.

5 ways Argonne entangled with Ant-Man to get people to geek out about quantum science

Whether Ant-Man is shrinking between atoms or communicating through entangled particles, his true superpower is his ability to excite people about quantum science. Argonne assembled experts to spread the word about the real science of the quantum realm.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Plans to Deploy First IBM Quantum System One on a University Campus

Today, it was announced that Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will become the first university in the world to house an IBM Quantum System One. The IBM quantum computer, intended to be operational by January of 2024, will serve as the foundation of a new IBM Quantum Computational Center in partnership with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). By partnering, RPI’s vision is to greatly enhance the educational experiences and research capabilities of students and researchers at RPI and other institutions, propel the Capital Region into a top location for talent, and accelerate New York’s growth as a technology epicenter.

How Argonne is pushing the boundaries of quantum technology research

With its Department of Energy National Quantum Information Science Research Center (Q-NEXT) and its quantum research team, Argonne is a hub for research that could change the way we process and transmit information.

Researchers take a step towards turning interactions that normally ruin quantum information into a way of protecting it

Rresearchers at Aalto University in Finland and IAS Tsinghua University in China report a new way to predict how quantum systems, such as groups of particles, behave when they are connected to the external environment. Usually, connecting a system such as a quantum computer to its environment creates decoherence and leaks, which ruin any information about what’s happening inside the system. Now, the researchers developed a technique which turns that problem into its a solution.

Argonne announces 2022 Postdoctoral Performance Awards

Nine postdoctoral appointees were recognized with Postdoctoral Performance Awards.

Entrepreneurship program at Argonne National Laboratory opens applications for startups

Chain Reaction Innovations, the entrepreneurship program at Argonne National Laboratory, is accepting applications for its next fellowship cohort.

New laboratory to explore the quantum mysteries of nuclear materials

Every day, researchers discover new details about the laws that govern the tiniest building blocks of the universe. These details not only increase scientific understanding of quantum physics, but they also hold the potential to unlock a host of technologies, from quantum computers to lasers to next-generation solar cells.

But there’s one area that remains a mystery even in this most mysterious of sciences: the quantum mechanics of nuclear fuels.

Breakthrough Reported in Machine Learning-Enhanced Quantum Chemistry

The equations of quantum mechanics require too much computer time and power when used to predict behavior in large systems. Researchers have now shown that machine learning models can mimic the basic structure from first principles, which can be very difficult to simulate directly. The result is predictions that are easy to compute and are accurate in a wide range of chemical systems.

‘Beam Me Up:’ Nation’s First Quantum Drone Provides Unrivaled Security

Researchers are developing the nation’s first drone-based, mobile quantum network for unhackable wireless communication. The network includes drones, a ground station, lasers and fiber optics. In war, these drones would provide one-time crypto-keys to exchange critical information, which spies and enemies would not be able to intercept. Quantum protects information using the laws of nature and not just by a clever manmade code.

See how quantum ‘weirdness’ is improving electron microscopes

Two new advances from the lab of University of Oregon physicist Ben McMorran are refining the microscopes. Both come from taking advantage of a fundamental principle of quantum mechanics: that an electron can behave simultaneously like a wave and a particle. It’s one of many examples of weird, quantum-level quirks in which subatomic particles often behave in ways that seem to violate the laws of classical physics.

Science Snapshots from Berkeley Lab

An experiment to study gravity at the quantum scale, insights into an antibiotic-building enzyme, and the backstory of an incredible new protein prediction algorithm are featured in this month’s roundup of science highlights.

Uncovering Hidden Local States in a Quantum Material

States of local broken symmetry at high temperature—observed in several materials, including one with a metal-insulator transition, an iron-based superconductor, and an insulating mineral part of the Earth’s upper mantle—may enable the technologically relevant properties arising at much-lower temperature.

Quantum-nonlocality at all speeds

The phenomenon of quantum nonlocality defies our everyday intuition. It shows the strong correlations between several quantum particles some of which change their state instantaneously when the others are measured, regardless of the distance between them. While this phenomenon has been confirmed for slow moving particles, it has been debated whether nonlocality is preserved when particles move very fast at velocities close to the speed of light, and even more so when those velocities are quantum mechanically indefinite.

5th cohort of five innovators selected for Chain Reaction Innovations program

Five new innovators will be joining Chain Reaction Innovations, the entrepreneurship program at Argonne National Laboratory, as part of the elite program’s fifth cohort to develop clean energy startups that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase U.S. competitiveness in emerging energy technologies.

Nation’s first quantum startup accelerator, Duality, launches at the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center and the Chicago Quantum Exchange

The University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the Chicago Quantum Exchange today announced the launch of Duality, the first accelerator program in the nation that is exclusively dedicated to startup companies focused on quantum science and technology—a rapidly emerging area that is poised to drive transformative advances across multiple industries.

Designing Materials from First Principles with Yuan Ping

The UC Santa Cruz professor uses computing resources at Brookhaven Lab’s Center for Functional Nanomaterials to run calculations for quantum information science, spintronics, and energy research.

Eight ways Argonne advanced science in 2020

Throughout 2020, Argonne answered fundamental science questions and provided solutions for the world.

Quantifying Quantumness: A Mathematical Project ‘of Immense Beauty’

Large objects behave in accordance with the classical laws of mechanics formulated by Sir Isaac Newton and small ones are governed by quantum mechanics, where an object can behave as both a wave and a particle. The boundary between the classical and quantum realms has always been of great interest. Research reported in AVS Quantum Science, considers the question of what makes something “more quantum” than another — is there a way to characterize “quantumness”?

All together now: Experiments with twisted 2D materials catch electrons behaving collectively

A team led by the University of Washington reports that carefully constructed stacks of graphene — a 2D form of carbon — can exhibit highly correlated electron properties. The team also found evidence that this type of collective behavior likely relates to the emergence of exotic magnetic states.

Six Argonne researchers receive DOE Early Career Research Program awards

Argonne scientists Michael Bishof, Maria Chan, Marco Govini, Alessandro Lovato, Bogdan Nicolae and Stefan Wild have received funding for their research as part of DOE’s Early Career Research Program.

Joined nano-triangles pave the way to magnetic carbon materials

Graphene triangles with an edge length of only a few atoms behave like peculiar quantum magnets. When two of these nano-triangles are joined, a “quantum entanglement” of their magnetic moments takes place: the structure becomes antiferromagnetic. This could be a breakthrough for future magnetic materials, and another step towards spintronics. An international group led by Empa researchers recently published the results in the journal “Angewandte Chemie”.

Theoretical breakthrough shows quantum fluids rotate by corkscrew mechanism

Scientists performed simulations of merging rotating superfluids, revealing a peculiar corkscrew-shaped mechanism that drives the fluids into rotation without the need for viscosity.

ORNL, LANL-developed quantum technologies go the distance

For the second year in a row, a team of scientists from DOE’s Oak Ridge and Los Alamos National Laboratories led a demonstration hosted by EPB, a utility and telecommunications company, to test quantum-based technologies that could improve the cybersecurity, longevity and efficiency of the nation’s power grid. Among other successes, the researchers drastically increased the range these resources can cover in collaboration with new industry partner Qubitekk.

Making a Material World Better, Faster Now: Q&A With Materials Project Director Kristin Persson

Berkeley Lab’s Kristin Persson shares her thoughts on what inspired her to launch the Materials Project online database, the future of materials research and machine learning, and how she found her own way into a STEM career.

Fourth cohort of 6 innovators selected for Chain Reaction Innovations program

Six new innovators will be joining Chain Reaction Innovations (CRI), the entrepreneurship program at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, as part of the elite program’s fourth cohort.